Wild at Heart
by The Silent Scream
Summary: With Kaorinite gone, it doesn't take long for someone else to take her place. Knowing they have to find the talismans before their enemies do, Haruka and Michiru fight against their new foe and also have to deal with the complications their new relationship might bring. Sequel to Call of the Wild.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: As promised (or threatened, hehe), here is the sequel to Call of the Wild. I hope you'll enjoy what my muse and I came up with :)

Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Just borrowing it all for a while to play with, and then I'll put it all back.

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><p><span>Wild at Heart<span>

A loud snarl echoed through the settlement as the large, black beast shot forward, muscles bulging beneath the fur as a clawed hand took a powerful swipe at the petit woman, prompting her to jump back and out of the way with ease, a slight smile curling her lips as the missed hit caused her opponent to lose balance and nearly fall.

Taking the chance given, she raised her hands, power crackling around them as she called her attack, her cry of "Deep Submerge!" mixing with the growls the beast was still letting out; seconds later though, the growls turned into yelps of pain as the attack hit and sent the bulky body flying, a cloud of dust welling up when the beast crashed back down.

Not wanting to give her opponent a chance to recover, Neptune called for her powers once more; before she could unleash them though, the beast raised both hands, then slammed one of them down onto the ground repeatedly, and a male voice called out, bringing an end to the fight. "Surrender! Neptune wins!"

Well aware of the unwritten rules concerning wolves in their beast form, Neptune kept her distance to the one she had taken down; another growl came from the beast as he came back to his feet, then changed to human, giving her an admiring glance once he had finished and found himself capable of speech again.

"That attack packs more of a punch than I thought it would have", he admitted, making Neptune smile again, blue light briefly surrounding her as she transformed back to her civilian form, "impressive."

"Told you", the only blonde among the men and women who had watched the fight threw in, with a roll of her eyes, "but you wouldn't listen."

"I didn't think it'd be so fast", the man admitted, smoothing his messed-up hair down with both hands, "I thought I could get out of the way."

"Yeah, we fight daimons regularly with an attack which can simply be avoided by getting out of the way", Haruka teased in response, earning a slight giggle from Michiru while the man she had been fighting scratched the back of his head sheepishly; after giving him another smirk, the blonde moved over to the smaller woman, wrapping both arms around her from behind and pulling her close, a content sigh coming from the Senshi at the tender embrace.

At first, she had felt uncomfortable about such displays of affection, even if it was just the werewolves around, members of a pack which had not the slightest problem with showing affection to their partners; by now though, she had gotten used to it and enjoyed, relishing and treasuring each chance she had to be close to Haruka, knowing how quickly their relationship could come to an abrupt, unexpected end, with the dangers they faced on a regular basis.

"Okay folks", Tatsuo, adoptive father of her girlfriend and alpha of the pack, called out, clapping his hands as if to underline his words, "show's over, we better all get back to work!"

"Spoilsport", Haruka smirked in response, earning a huff from her father; the rest of the watchers took a moment to snicker at the exchange, then the small crowd dispersed as they all went back to their respective jobs, until only Tatsuo, his wife Ramika, Haruka and Michiru were left.

"Well, that was a good show", Tatsuo complimented the Senshi as soon as they all were out of earshot, "by now, everyone in the pack should have figured out not to mess with a Sailor Senshi. Not that we ever would want to, mind you. Are you staying for dinner?"

The change of topic with the last question was so unexpected that it made both Haruka and Michiru blink as they tried to process it; finally, it was the blonde who nodded, earning a happy smile from both her father and her mother, the elder man sounding just as happy as he looked when he spoke up yet again. "Great! You'll be happy to hear that we'll have steak, then. But have no fear, Michiru, unlike our daughter, we are considerate of our non-wolf guests and got enough side dishes to make sure there's one you like."

"Hey", Haruka protested while Michiru found herself unable to hold back laughter, "I got better about that. Didn't I, Michiru?"

"You did", Michiru confirmed, still smiling, "but only because I spend more time at your place by now than at mine."

"Why don't you move in together, anyway", Ramika wanted to know as they started walking, to the Tenoh house, "as you said, you spend more time there than at your apartment, Haruka's home is big enough for both of you… do you think it's too early?"

"Might be", Michiru gave back, blushing slightly at the elder woman's bluntness, while Haruka just nodded, "we haven't been together that long. Not even a month. Also, my parents don't know yet, and if I moved in with Haruka, I'd have to tell them that they can stop paying the rent for my place, and they'd want to know why…"

"And you're not quite yet ready to tell them", Ramika nodded understandingly, Haruka reacting to those words by grasping Michiru's hand and giving it a tender squeeze, prompting the smaller woman to give her a small, but warm and genuine smile, "which is not surprising, after what you've told us."

"They know I exist", Haruka threw in, before her parents could get the wrong idea and might think Michiru hadn't even told her parents that, "and that we're together. But so far, they didn't ask to meet me, and if we move in together, they surely will want to."

"And I just know they'll say or do something atrocious", Michiru sighed while they reached the house, Tatsuo opening the door and holding it open for the three women, "so, honestly, I want to put it off as long as possible."

"Understandable", Ramika nodded, earning a weak smile from the smaller woman; she smiled back at her, then briefly reached out and touched her shoulder in a reassuring gesture, changing the topic afterwards by asking if they had any plans for after dinner.

"Not today", Haruka declined as they moved to the living room and sat down there, only Tatsuo detouring to the kitchen to get started with preparing the food, "just go back to the city and have a hopefully calm evening. Unless there's another attack, of course."

"Which I hope won't happen", Michiru added, "I didn't use much power during our little match out there, but it might be noticeable if the daimon is tougher than usual."

"Which they haven't been in a while", Haruka pointed out, more in response to Ramika looking a bit worried now than to correct Michiru, "whoever took over after Kaorinite kicked the bucket apparently doesn't know much about our strengths and weaknesses yet. Either Kaorinite didn't leave any notes, or the new guy didn't read them."

"Let's hope there are no notes", Ramika gave back, making them both nod their agreement, "I don't think you want to face another one of those creatures made of silver."

"Nope", Haruka confirmed, then made it her turn to change the topic by asking how Yuuichirou was doing with his integration into the pack; in response, her mother reassured her that he was doing fine, then went into detail about how exactly he was doing, whom he already was friends with and the tasks he had been assigned, keeping them busy with this until Tatsuo had finished in the kitchen and it was time for them to enjoy dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

"I wonder if we will meet this new guy soon", Michiru commented hours later, after they had left the settlement of the pack and had returned to Haruka's apartment; by now, she was there so much that most of the stuff she needed daily, from hygiene products to her music and art supplies, had made its way there, only a few items of clothing she didn't wear often left at her apartment. Part of her knew that she might as well move those last few things to the blonde's home and make moving in with her official; another, bigger part worried too much about telling her parents and their reaction though, and thus, she kept a few things at her place, just so she could justify the fact that she still had it to herself.

"Probably", Haruka gave back, getting comfortable next to her on the couch after having brought drinks from the kitchen, handing one of them to her partner now as she spoke on, "especially if we keep destroying their daimons. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't shown up yet to complain and make threats, like Kaorinite did."

"Well, they must know how it ended for her", Michiru pointed out, "perhaps they're not aware of the details, but she did fall to her death after her last confrontation with us. They might be more cautious."

"And trying to learn about us, and the others", Haruka grumbled, taking a sip of her drink before she went on, "so they'll be better prepared when they hit us directly for the first time. It's how I'd do it."

"It's how Kaorinite did it", Michiru reminded her, "when she sent that daimon made of silver after you. We'll just have to hope they won't try this again, or, if they do, that you won't be alone then."

"I know what you're hinting at", Haruka sighed, giving her an unhappy look, "a full moon's coming up, and you don't want me to go running alone."

"Yes", Michiru confirmed at once, oddly touched by how well the blonde could read her by now, "I know how much you enjoy it, but you really shouldn't go alone. With others of the pack, perhaps, but not on your own."

"I'll talk to Dad", Haruka promised her, making her smile and nod, "or perhaps just skip this month entirely. It'll be annoying, but it won't be dangerous or anything, and since I can change into the wolf so easily now, even when it's not the full moon…"

"I still wonder where that came from", the Senshi pondered out loud in response, "there is still so much we don't know about all of this…"

"Not to mention that strange attack I used against Kaorinite", the blonde thought out loud, leaning back into the couch comfortably and smiling when Michiru snuggled up to her immediately, finding it much easier to show affection now that it was just the two of them, in the privacy of her lover's home, "I'm still not sure if I can ever do that again, or if it was a one-time thing."

"I don't think so", Michiru gave back, her smile widening when Haruka moved one hand to caress her hair, tenderly playing with a few of the long strands, "I think that… if you hadn't been made a wolf, but had become a Senshi, your attack would have been something similar. Perhaps not with as much physical contact as you had when you barrelled right into her, but apart from that…"

"Well, we'll never know", Haruka replied with a small sigh, "so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I just hope you won't have to get hurt again for me to find out if I can do that again."

"I hope none of us will get dreadfully hurt in the near future", the smaller woman countered, her hand coming to a tender rest on the blonde's side, where she still was bearing the scars from Kaorinite's most dangerous attack against her; Haruka nodded her agreement, then kept Michiru from pointing out how she might lower that risk considerably by being less reckless by capturing her lips in a tender kiss, a small sigh coming from the Senshi as she responded.

Shifting slightly on the couch to make the kissing easier, Michiru wrapped both arms around her partner, her heart soaring when she felt Haruka pull her closer in response; before she had acted on her feelings, shortly after the blonde had gotten seriously hurt, Michiru had kept telling herself that it'd be wrong to get together with her like that, that their mission was too important to let a relationship and their feelings cloud their judgement, but now, and each time they kissed or Haruka merely held her, she realized how wrong she had been, and how right being with the blonde made her feel.

"So", she mumbled after the kiss, still snuggled close to the blonde, "seems like we got the evening off. At least I'm not feeling anything. Got any idea what we could do?"

"Oh, I got plenty", Haruka reassured her, a slight, somewhat predatory smirk curling her lips – before her hand slid from her partner's hair to her front and beneath her shirt, a shiver running through the smaller woman at the gentle touch. They were both fighters, she reflected, with instincts and abilities impossible to match by a regular human; they also were two young adults though, not even in their twenties yet, and in those moments, the moments when Haruka touched her that way or she was the one to take initiative, all thoughts of their duties and of soldiering were blown away, their desires and passions taking over fully.

"Bedroom", Michiru still managed to say, not wanting to get intimate with her lover on the couch; she wouldn't have minded if it had been bigger, but previous times of intimacy had shown them that there wasn't enough room to let them focus fully on each other, without having to worry that one of them might end up falling off in the middle of their passion.

The agreeing noise Haruka let out showed her that she was thinking along similar lines, and even though she was dismayed when the blonde pulled her hand back, Michiru still smiled, knowing that the loss of physical contact was merely temporarily; she got up from the couch, the blonde doing the same, and after another kiss, a much more passionate one this time, they moved to the bedroom without another word necessary, both eager to once more experience each other's touch and the love they felt for each other.

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><p>"This is nice", Michiru stated in the next afternoon as they arrived at the even they had chosen for entertainment this day, a small festival held by a local committee, "they really put a lot of thought into this."<p>

"Yeah", Haruka agreed, slightly absent-mindedly as she was tugging at her kimono again; usually, she avoided wearing such garments, much preferring her attire of jeans, t-shirt and her leather jacket, preferably in combination with her biker boots, but Michiru had given her the puppy dog look when she had asked her if she couldn't wear a kimono, as well, and, being unable to say no to her, she had agreed.

"Stop tugging", Michiru told her, having noticed what she was doing, "it sits just perfectly, and you look great in it."

"Surely not as good as you", Haruka gave back at once, earning a smile from her partner; she smiled back at her, then a familiar scent reached her nose, along with an odd banging sound and a well-known voice calling out to the people moving by that they should try to catch a goldfish.

"Look", Michiru said a second later, having noticed as well, "it's the girls."

Next to her, Haruka nodded, noticing at once that one of said girls was absent, namely Rei, the only one of the group who knew their secret; the other four though were all there, and of course it was Usagi who was bashing a drum designed to look like a big, round fish, looking not all too happy about her task, but smiling immediately when she spotted the two.

So far, at least as Haruka and Michiru knew, Rei hadn't told her friends that Michiru was Sailor Neptune and that Haruka was the werewolf who was fighting with the Senshi of the Seas; unlike the four girls, the two older women had figured out that the five of them formed the Sailor Team they often ran into, and by now, were acquainted with them in both their civilian and their Senshi forms, both of them somehow knowing that sooner or later, this would evolve into friendship, and perhaps a rather close one.

"Haruka, Michiru", Usagi greeted them, her overjoyed tone gaining the attention of the other three girls, Minako, Makoto and Ami, the three of them responsible for the goldfish-catching game Usagi was advertising, "how nice to meet you here! You wanna try and catch a goldfish?"

"You try", Michiru told Haruka, smiling up at her, "you have better reflexes than I do."

Momentarily, Haruka was tempted to just catch the fish with her bare hands, just to show off said reflexes a bit; then, she realized that this, while it might impress Michiru and the girls, would be rather stupid and decided against it, doing it the normal way instead, catching one of the fish with ease, to the evident surprise of Usagi, who clearly hadn't expected her to succeed on her first try.

"Awesome", the younger girl congratulated her after getting over her surprise, smiling brightly, "do you want to keep it?"

"Thanks, but no", Haruka gave back at once, "I wouldn't want to carry the poor thing around all evening, and we have no fish tank in our home, anyway."

If Usagi noticed the surprised look Michiru shot Haruka at this wording, she didn't let it show; and to her credit, Usagi also didn't react the way many others might have to the revelation that the two women were living together, and obviously were involved in a romantic relationship, not giving them looks of shock or even disgust, but merely smiled, then nodded, sounding happy still as she replied. "Alright then, thank you for playing! I was a bit mad at Rei when she made me hit that stupid fish drum, but now I'm glad cause I spotted the two of you!"

"That's kind of you to say", Michiru smiled, making Haruka nod slightly next to her, then, Minako called out to Usagi and asked her if she wanted Rei to catch her talking to customers instead of working, even if they knew the customers in question, and with a grimace, Usagi told them in response that she had to get back to her drumming.

"Hit it, then", Haruka smirked, earning an eyeroll from the other blonde while Michiru let out a giggle; then, Usagi nodded and told them to have fun at the festival before she went back to her drumming and the couple moved on, Michiru taking Haruka's arm after a few moments of just walking next to her, partly due to the way some of the girls there were looking the blonde, but mostly because she felt the need for physical contact; briefly, the taller woman glanced down on her at the touch, then smiled and moved a bit closer to her, making it obvious to anyone that they belonged together.

"Look", Haruka said next to her, gesturing vaguely up ahead, at a row of food stands, "shall we get something to eat? It all smells delicious."

"Let your nose lead to way to which smells best", Michiru gave back, smiling; the blonde let out a chuckle in response, then took the lead, the Senshi right next to her, smiling to herself as she enjoyed the day and the company of her lover, once more stunned at how much better her life had gotten ever since she had met her.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Miss Maya Tono! Miss Maya Tono, if you are hearing this, please meet me!"_

Both Haruka and Michiru stopped eating at the exactly the same second as the voice echoed through the quiet night; they had found a slightly secluded spot to have their food, since Haruka had complained only half in jest that the smells of all those foods and people were making it hard for her to enjoy her food, and now, that silence was broken by the amplified voice calling out for this woman.

Normally, neither the werewolf nor the Senshi would have paid much attention to that, dismissing it as someone of the festival organizers calling out for one of their performers; the second they had that voice though, shivers ran up and down their spine, and exchanging one look was enough to tell them that they both had felt it.

"Something's up", Michiru said out loud what they both were thinking, glad that they had found a spot where no one could see them to have their meal; nodding, Haruka put hers aside with a short, unhappy glance at it, then looked around once more to make sure no one was watching, another nod at Michiru following – and the smaller woman changed, transforming in an explosion of blue light, feeling how the strength and stamina of Neptune rushed through her, a spike of adrenaline making her heart race for a few wonderful seconds.

While she went through her change, quick as it was, Haruka did the same, only doing the easiest shift though, letting just enough of her wolf come forward to have hair grow on her face, throat and hands, pain flashing through her jaw as her canines lengthened and sharpened; her eyes flashed bright yellow, and a satisfied growl came from her as her wolf boosted her already above-average strength even further.

"Can you smell anything?" Neptune asked her as soon as they both had finished their changes; in response, Haruka sniffed audibly, then frowned, taking in another deep breath afterwards, sounding just a tad doubtful as she replied. "Gasoline. And… another one of those daimons, I think. It's that… wrong smell again."

"Lead the way", was the only response Neptune gave, and after a nod, Haruka did just that, letting her sense of smell guide her as she walked, further away from the main area of the festival; and not even two minutes later, they found the cause for the alien odour she had picked up on, a white car with a black star painted onto the doors and a redheaded woman in front of it, just lowering some kind of gun after using it to shoot out the heart crystal of a young woman in a traditional blue kimono.

"Why is it always redheads", Neptune whispered to her partner, earning a low snort and a shrug in reply; for a dreadful moment, they both had thought that it was Kaorinite, that she wasn't dead after all, but then the woman had turned to look at someone or something else, and they had seen her profile, easily able to tell it wasn't their old adversary, but a new player.

"Stay out of this", the redhead now said to someone the two couldn't quite see, "I'm not stupid like Kaorinite was and let you get into my way! I'm Eudial, of the Witches 5, and if you know what's good for you, you don't try to interfere!"

While she had wasted time introducing herself and had been distracted, Neptune and Haruka easily had moved past her, to where the young woman laid, the heart crystal hovering above her chest; Neptune's trained eye told her at once that it was no talisman, but before she could tell Haruka that, Eudial had turned back to look at her victim, letting out a startled "Hey!" as she spotted the Senshi and the werewolf, the two only now noticing whom she had been talking to, namely Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars.

"Get away from that", Eudial told the couple, ignoring the other Senshi for now, "that's mine! Kaorinite might have let it happen that you messed with her, but I won't!"

"Don't be mad", Neptune gave back, smiling at her while she carefully returned the crystal to its owner, "your first try was unlucky, that's not a talisman."

"Dammit", Eudial grumbled, glaring at the two as if it was their fault, "but, fine, if I can't have a talisman, at least I'll get rid of you! Daimon!"

At her last word, the trunk of her car sprang open, and a cloud of greenish smoke billowed out, smelling bad enough to make Haruka grimace; through the smoke, they could see a figure crouch in the trunk, the blonde raising an eyebrow when it hopped out of the car and turned out to be a female daimon clearly inspired by traditional drummers, a drum around her middle and some sort of contraption on her back.

"Soyer!" the daimon cried, while Eudial hopped into her car and was gone before anyone could try to stop her; figuring that now, they should focus on the daimon, the four of them did just that, Haruka smirking when Mars shot her a look and asked if they wanted to join the fun or if they had other things to do.

"I suppose a little workout won't hurt", she then replied, the distinctive growl in her voice making Neptune smile, "what do you think, Neptune?"

"Go ahead", the smaller woman replied, her smile widening slightly, "I can tell you want to beat this thing up. Just be careful."

In response, Haruka just smirked at her – and then shot forward, so fast that it not only startled the daimon, but Sailor Moon and Mars as well, Moon even letting out a little squeak when the blonde collided with the creature and landed a series of hits, hard enough to send the daimon a few steps back.

"Ow, what the Hell", the creature then had the gall to complain, glaring at her, "why'd you do that, I didn't do anything to you!"

"Yet", Haruka added, unimpressed; the daimon glared at her, then cried "Soyer!" again, adding "I'll make you dance!" afterwards – before she did something to the thing on her back, Haruka automatically taking a step back when a fuse seemed to appear out of nowhere, sparks flying as it burned down, the other end of it leading to the thing the daimon was carrying on her back.

"Get back!" Neptune called out to her, a hint of alarm in her voice, clearly thinking that the meagre step she had taken wasn't enough; figuring that she had more experience with these things and thus knew what she was talking about, Haruka hurriedly did so, getting out of the way just in time as the fuse reached the contraption on the daimon's back – and it exploded, sending fireworks, of all things, everywhere.

Growling, Haruka jumped back even further as the glowing rockets shot back down, exploding upon impact with the ground; a few feet away, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars let out cries of surprise as they tried to hop out of the way, as well, momentarily almost looking as if they were dancing, the daimon laughing in glee at the sight, then imitating their movements, the stupid behaviour only making the werewolf even angrier.

"Obviously, you are too immature to play with fire like that", Neptune commented though before Haruka could move in for another attack, "we better put that out, hm?"

"Eh?" the daimon still had time to say, then energy crackled as Neptune called on her power; she took a second to make sure neither her lover, nor the other two Senshi were in the line of fire, then unleashed her power, her cry of "Deep Submerge!" mixing with the yelp the daimon let out.

Seconds later, the creature not only yelped, but screamed as the attack hit; taking the chance given by this, Haruka moved in again quickly, reaching the daimon just as she recovered, slamming her fist into the creature's stomach, right above the drum, and making her double over in pain.

Not wasting that opportunity, Haruka brought both fists down this time, onto the daimon's back; she went down with another cry, and the werewolf hurriedly got out of the way when she heard Mars call her attack, the Senshi of Fire planning to deal the blow which would weaken the creature enough so Sailor Moon could finish her off.

"Burning…" she started only to fall silent moments later, her eyes going wide as she looked at something behind Haruka; curious, wondering what was happening now, if it was some other daimon perhaps, the werewolf turned, raising an eyebrow moments later as she found herself looking at what appeared to be a miniature Senshi, her fuku mostly pink and red, the pink matching her hair and the red her eyes.

"What the…" Haruka started, only to fall silent when the kid struck a pose, eerily similar to Sailor Moon's; her second eyebrow wandered up to join the first one in the high position, but the little Senshi didn't let the obvious confusion deter her, sounding proud and quite confident when she spoke up.

"I knew you would need my help again", she claimed, even though the situation was obviously under control, "so I came back to make sure you are protected! I am Sailor Chibi Moon!"

"Sailor Chibi Moon", Haruka repeated in a rather deadpan tone, while behind the small Senshi, Neptune covered her mouth with one hand to hide the smile the girl's words had brought to her face; with a look of importance, Chibi Moon nodded, all of them so distracted by her appearance that none of them noticed the daimon Soyer come back to her feet – until she cried out "Soyer!", a spiked club suddenly in her hands, Haruka just having time to turn around before the weapon came down right onto her head.


	4. Chapter 4

Haruka went down without a sound.

That was what scared Neptune the most, as she'd later, in the calm of their… the blonde's home, would admit to herself – the complete silence, no growl coming from her partner as the hit landed, no yelp, not even a pained gasp.

Just a gruesome, somehow fleshy _thunk, _along with a sickening crunch she knew all too well, the sound of breaking bone – and the low _thump _with which Haruka hit the ground, blood spurting at first, then pooling, forming a sick, crimson halo around her head, drenching her blonde hair, hair through which Neptune had so often ran her fingers when she had been Michiru.

"_Haruka!" _The cry left her throat before she even realized her lips were forming her lover's name, a name she so far had tried not to say when the other Senshi were around; now, as she saw her go down though, these worried and cautions were forgotten, and so was the daimon, her wide eyes only focused on the blonde as she started running, eager to get to her side.

Seeing another target not only approach willingly, but so focused on that pesky blonde she just had taken down, the daimon smiled, blood dripping from the spikes and dark wood of the club as she raised it; and then, seeing the weapon with surprising clarity, as if her eyesight had been increased by the shock of what she just had witnessed, Neptune saw the small clumps of blonde hair sticking to the spikes and the wood, and her stomach turned.

"Neptune, no!" she heard Mars cry out, but didn't pay her any mind; she heard Soyer chuckle next, saw movement from the corner of her eye as the club swung again, aimed for her this time, and too late she realized her blunder, realized that she had put herself into a position which made her so vulnerable to this thing, and didn't give her room to manoeuvre and try to dodge the attack.

"_Venus Love-Me Chain!" _

Said chain already was flying while the words were still being yelled out, a construct of brightly glowing hearts; when Neptune had first seen this attack, she had thought of it as somewhat ridiculous, with the hearts and all, but now, she had to admit that it had its merits, as said hearts wrapped around the club and, with one powerful jerk, the weapon was torn out of the surprised daimon's hand, an indignant "Hey!" coming from Soyer as she found herself disarmed.

Jupiter was next, as the crackling of lightning and thunder told; and somehow, Neptune managed to grab Haruka beneath the armpits and drag her out of the danger zone just before the tall Senshi's attack hit, the cry of the daimon now pitiful, the way she wobbled afterwards showing how close she was to being finished.

"Take her down Sailor Moon!" Mars snapped, and the blink of an eye later, Sailor Moon sprang into action, Neptune not seeing much of it though as now, she was busy shielding Haruka's body with hers, only hearing the final cry of the daimon as the last attack hit and obliterated her.

Then, they all came rushing over to where she knelt, with the blonde lifeless at her feet; and even though, finally, she remembered the healing abilities of her lover, cold fear gripped Neptune's heart as she couldn't spot a sign of said healing, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how long it had been since Haruka had taken the hit and how long it usually took for her healing to kick in.

_You heard it, _she thought to herself, breathing faster now as she was close to panicking, _that crunch, you know what that meant, that thing broke her skull, who knows how much damage that did, it might have hurt her _brain_, what if…_

"Is she alright?!" Moon's voice tore her out of the ramblings of her own mind, and she slowly, numbly, looked up at her, "Neptune, I'm so sorry, is she alright?!"

She opened her mouth, not even sure yet what she would say, if it'd be no or if she'd say that she didn't know; before she could make up her mind though, the by now familiar, fleshy sounds of healing wounds came up, followed by a low mixture of groan and growl the blonde let out, her eyelids fluttering, something they all saw as her noise made them all look at her immediately.

"Haruka", Neptune said, now not caring anymore that the other Senshi were hearing her name and might figure out who she was in her civilian time, when she wasn't fighting daimons with her, "Haruka? Can you hear me? Please, if you can, wake up, please wake up…"

Another groan, with a twitching of her fingers this time; and then, Haruka slowly opened her eyes, blinking confusedly before her dazed expression cleared up and she grit her teeth, her head still feeling as if someone had brained her, the world momentarily blurring at the edges while she noticed that a whole bunch of Senshi was surrounding her, all of them looking down on her with varying levels of concern.

"The kid", she rasped, prompting the younger soldiers to exchange confused looks while Neptune just kept focusing on her, a strange mixture of fear and relief on her face, "is the kid okay?"

"Oh", Sailor Moon was the first to realize what she was talking about, brightening up so much that Haruka almost expected a light bulb to appear over her head, an odd thought which she blamed on having gotten hit on the head not even five minutes ago, "yes, she's fine. At least for now, until I'll punish her for distracting us all during a fight and getting you hurt!"

"I'm fine", the blonde gave back, struggling to sit up and thus simultaneously showing that she wasn't as fine as she wanted them to believe; and immediately, Neptune was there to help her, one arm going around her waist while she used her other hand to move Haruka's arm over her shoulders, then hoisted her up this way, "no worries. My kind heals fast."

"You don't look fine", Jupiter was the one to say out loud what they all were thinking; managing a smile, Neptune reassured them that she would take good care of her partner, then they both turned without another word and walked off, all of the Senshi noticing how heavily Haruka was leaning on the smaller woman, watching them go with concern, asking themselves how close the blonde actually had been to getting killed when she had taken that fateful hit.

* * *

><p>The most obvious sign for Haruka not feeling as fine as she had claimed was the fact that, once they had reached the car, she handed the keys to Michiru without a word; and since by now, she knew that the blonde hated showing weakness of any kind to anyone, even to her, Michiru didn't make any comment, either, but merely moved to the driver's side, giving her partner a concerned glance as she slumped into the passenger seat and closed her eyes.<p>

"Should we stop somewhere and pick up painkillers?" she asked after starting the engine and carefully moving the vehicle out of the parking spot – she had a driver's license, but never had gotten much practice, especially not since she had met Haruka, who loved to drive; it didn't really surprise her when the blonde shook her head in response, only to wince moments later, her hand coming up to rub at her temple as the movement had brought up fresh pain in her mistreated brain.

"No", she still said out loud, "the headache's gonna be gone soon. Just hit me harder than I thought it did, that's all."

"God, I was scared", Michiru finally confessed, even though that simple, single word could never convey what she really had felt, the blood-chilling terror and fright at seeing her lover fall, the way her stomach had turned at the sight of the blood, the hair sticking to the club, small, blonde clumps, splattered with crimson…

Her stomach clenched up painfully, then turned yet again; and this time, there was nothing she could do to stop it, no Senshi powers helping her to keep her composure; somehow, she managed to stop the car and even got the door open, bending out just in time to avoid messing up the car as she threw up, hot tears burning in her eyes all of a sudden, the young woman unsure if they had been caused by the vomiting or by the aftershock of what she had witnessed.

"Michiru!" she heard Haruka say in shock, followed by a tender hand rubbing her back, and if she hadn't been afraid that it might make her throw up again, she would have smiled sardonically at the fact that now, it was the blonde comforting her, when her lover had been the one to get hurt and she had gotten out of the fight without a scratch.

"Hey", Haruka added, now sounding a bit helpless, and the smaller woman nearly giggled as she realized how this had to look for her – here she was, asking her if they should get painkillers, and then, out of nowhere, she suddenly threw up. But then, of course, Haruka hadn't seen what she had seen, the blood spurting, then spreading, and the way some of her hair had stuck to the club.

_Oh God, stop thinking about that, _she told herself as she heaved again, the blonde still rubbing her back soothingly, _it's okay, she's fine, it healed up fine, stop thinking about how it looked… her hair…_

"I'm sorry", she brought out, once she could be sure her stomach had been thoroughly emptied, "I… it just… Haruka, it was awful…"

It was the first time she had been there to see Haruka get dreadfully hurt, had seen her go down; she had seen her dreadfully hurt once before, after Kaorinite had sent a daimon made of silver after her, but back then, by the time she had arrived at the scene of that battle, the blonde already had been out cold, her fur and blood obscuring the wounds she had taken, having kept her from seeing too much of them. This time, it had been different, and perhaps, she thought, this was why it was affecting her so much – she had known that it'd be dangerous for Haruka to fight by her side, that the fights were dangerous for both of them, but until now, she never had seen her lover go down like this. She had seen her get wounded, had seen her down and out cold, but she never had witnessed her getting injured like this, the memory of the sounds, the sight, the _smell _even still so fresh on her mind, and she never wanted to see anything like this again.

"It's over now", Haruka reassured her, pulling her hand back as now, it was Michiru's turn to slump back in the seat, sweat cooling on her brow, "I'm fine, you know I am, we heal fast…"

"I know", Michiru agreed, giving her a thankful look when she handed her a bottle of water; it was lukewarm, and probably had been sitting in the car for a while, but it was enough for her to wash her mouth out, get rid of the sour taste and even refresh her a bit.

"I know", she then repeated, briefly closing her eyes as she tried to find the right words, so she could make Haruka see why this time, it had been so much more awful than the previous times she had seen her get hurt, a task which was made a bit easier by the blonde reaching over and grasping her free hand, "it's just… It happened so fast, and I heard it, Haruka, I heard the crunch when it broke your skull… and all the blood, and… I just stood there, and did nothing…"

"There wasn't much you could have done", Haruka pointed out, "it happened too fast even for me, and you of all people know how good my reflexes are. We all were too distracted by that kid, and for once, the daimon was smart enough to make use of that. We should be glad it was me it hit, and not one of the others, or that kid."

"Yes", Michiru agreed, knowing that Haruka was right - there was nothing she could have done, she had been too far away to interfere physically, and even if she had used her attack the very second the club had gone up, she doubted it would have hit home fast enough.

"I know", she added, saying those two words for the third time in a row now and feeling quite stupid about it, like a broken record, "but… I was so scared. I know you heal fast, but it looked so bad, and the _sound…_"

"It's okay now", Haruka told her once more, squeezing her hand tenderly, "and if it makes you feel better, I promise I'll try to be more careful in the future, and not let some freaky pink-haired kid distract me when there's a monster with a bigass club right behind me."

"That promise is too specific to make me feel better", Michiru dryly replied, earning a low chuckle from her partner, "perhaps if you could generalize it a bit more?"

"I might not be able to keep it then", Haruka pointed out in reply, glad that her lover sounded much more like herself now and that the odd, scared tone she had heard in her voice just minutes ago was gone again; the only response she got this time was that Michiru rolled her eyes, then the smaller woman smiled at her, sounding much better when she suggested that they should go home now.

"Yes", Haruka agreed, not commenting on the fact that Michiru hadn't said "your home", but simply had spoken of "home", implying once more that she saw her lover's place more as her home than she did her own; instead of remarking on this though, she merely smiled as she leaned back into the seat, her headache slowly subsiding, leaving her with the knowledge that once more, they had won against their adversaries and had kept their enemy from reaching their sinister goal.


	5. Chapter 5

The moment they had arrived at the blonde's home, Michiru ordered her to go lie down, the only response Haruka got for telling her that she was okay being a strict look; and, realizing that arguing would lead nowhere, the taller woman gave in, moving to the living room after taking off her shoes and jacket, having to admit that it did make her feel better once she had gotten comfortable on the couch.

"I'll make you some tea", Michiru offered, and even though Haruka figured that her partner knew it wasn't exactly necessary, she merely nodded, recognizing this for what it was – Michiru's need to fuss over her, probably stemming from some vague failing that she had failed her and was partly responsible for her getting hurt.

"Tea's fine", she thus just said, earning a smile from the smaller woman; then, as Michiru vanished into the kitchen, she let her head drop back onto the armrest and closed her eyes, all tension leaving her muscles as she allowed herself to relax.

Now, as she laid there with nothing to do, hearing Michiru move around in the kitchen, her mind started to wander, and she thought back to the strange kid who had burst onto the battlefield and nearly had been responsible for getting her killed; she shuddered to think of how bad it would have been, had the club been made of silver, her brow furrowing slightly as she wondered who exactly that child was and what she had been doing there.

They had done some research after Kaorinite had been defeated and they'd had some time to do so, and had learned about the other Senshi; nowhere, the girl had been mentioned though, and judging from the reactions of the other Senshi and of what the kid had said, she hadn't been there before that day's fight, either, this conclusion leading Haruka to wonder where the kid had come from all of a sudden.

_Calling kids to those fights, that's messed up, _she pondered as she laid there, forcing herself to not drift off into sleep, _these things are dangerous, this is not a game, whoever is responsible for that… didn't they see what that one daimon did to me?_

Automatically, her hand moved to her side, where the attack of said daimon, a gruesome creature made purely of silver, had left one of two scars; those were the only scars on her whole body, her werewolf healing having taken care of all other injuries she had taken during her life, but those wounds, caused by silver, had healed much slower, and even though she knew that the scars would fade with time, they would never vanish completely.

Michiru's footsteps distracted her from those thoughts, and she forced her eyes open again, smiling at the smaller woman as she re-entered the living room, a tray in her hands with the tea can, two cups, honey and lemon on it; smiling back at her, Michiru placed the tray on the table, then wordlessly started pouring the tea, by now knowing well how Haruka liked hers – with just as much sugar as she poured into her coffee, something she knew, but still found hard to believe.

"Thanks", Haruka smiled once Michiru had finished preparing her tea and, once she had carefully sat up, had handed the cup to her; she took a sip of the sweetened liquid, then let out a small sigh of content, the noise making Michiru smile yet again.

"You looked quite peaceful", she then said, getting done with preparing her own tea, not drinking it yet though, wanting to let it cool a little first, "I hope I didn't keep you from falling asleep."

"No, no worries", Haruka reassured her, "I was just thinking about this strange kid we saw today. Have any idea who that was?"

"No", Michiru gave back, frowning as she thought back to the kid – when the girl had arrived, she had been as surprised as the rest of them, and then, after Haruka had gotten hurt, she hadn't paid much attention on the child anymore, too focused on her injured lover to worry about some random kid she never had seen before.

"She was a Senshi, too, apparently", she said out loud, "I think she said Sailor Chibi Moon? As silly as that sounded. And getting a kid involved in all those fights? That's just wrong."

With a vaguely agreeing noise, Haruka nodded, having thought exactly the same not even five minutes ago; letting out a sigh, Michiru finally took a sip of her tea, her voice and expression solemn as she went on, now not looking at the blonde anymore, but off into the distance, perhaps thinking back to a time when she hadn't accepted her fate yet, not fully, and had been in this all alone.

"I know how hard it can be", she mumbled, her tone of voice and the look on her face prompting Haruka to reach out with her free hand and grasp hers tenderly, "to be faced with this destiny, this enormous responsibility and burden. And putting that burden on a child… Christ, I barely could handle it when I got called, I was so scared. But I had no one to talk to, not back then, not until I met you…"

"And from what she said, she knows those other Senshi", Haruka finished for her, glad when finally, Michiru's gaze focused on her again, the small, but unpleasant trip down memory lane apparently over, "so she won't be alone in this. Surely they'll look out for her, make sure to keep her out of the worst when the fights are happening."

"They better do", Michiru dryly replied, her tone earning a low chuckle from the taller woman, "because if they don't, and let her join all those fights as if she were a grown-up, I'll personally Deep Submerge them into next week."

"I'll hold them down for you", Haruka offered with a smirk, "or perhaps go wolf and chase them around until they are too tired to avoid your attacks any longer."

The mental image made Michiru laugh, pushing the last few shreds of her serious mood aside as she pictured the other Senshi running this way and that, yelping and squealing while Haruka, in her large wolf form, chased them, growling and even snapping at their skirts; glad that her comment had had the effect she had planned, Haruka smiled at her, then gave her hand a tender squeeze, now her turn to look serious, her voice kind though when she went on. "And you're not alone in this anymore, now. You got me."

"I know", Michiru replied, momentarily a bit taken aback by this sudden change of tone and topic, then smiling again though, a warm and loving smile, "and I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

In response, Haruka pulled her closer, then kissed her tenderly, another content sigh coming from the smaller woman as their lips met; eager to be even closer to her, Michiru wrapped both arms around her and even ended up sitting in her lap, a shudder running through her when she felt the taller woman embrace her tightly.

"We better stop", she brought out after the kiss, her voice trembling just enough to let Haruka notice, "or I'll want to move to the bedroom, and you got hurt rather bad not too long ago."

"I'm fine now", Haruka gave back, with that certain low rumble in her voice Michiru by now easily identified as lust; momentarily, she was tempted to protest anyway, mindful of how bad it had been when Haruka had gone down – and then, the blonde's hand slid beneath her shirt and all her thoughts were drowned in her passion as she forgot the fight and the world around them.


	6. Chapter 6

"Shame on you", Michiru mumbled quite some time later, snuggled up against the taller woman, lazily drawing invisible circles onto her stomach with her index finger, "seducing me so even though you should be getting some rest."

"I can get rest now", Haruka rumbled in response, pulling the Senshi closer to herself, eager to feel as much of her as possible, something which was made considerably easier by the fact that they both were fully naked, "unless you want to get up right away and… do something. Please say you don't."

"I don't think I could get up even if I wanted to", Michiru replied, with a small, coquettish giggle, "perhaps you are not aware of this, but you do have quite a bit more stamina than a regular person. So, right now, I don't think my legs would carry me if I tried to get up."

"Thank goodness", Haruka gave back with a low laugh, sending shivers up and down her lover's spine, "because, while I do think my legs would carry me, I'm really in no mood to get up."

"Good", the smaller woman said with another giggle; smirking as well, Haruka moved one hand to caress her hair, letting it happen that her eyes fell close as she felt Michiru relax next to her, the way her breathing was slowing down telling the blonde that she was close to drifting off into sleep, as well.

Again, her mind started to wander, but this time, she didn't think of the fight and the strange new Senshi who had shown up during it; now, her thoughts were focused on Michiru, thinking back to the moment she had seen her the first time, as Sailor Neptune back then, down on the ground after a rather vicious attack by one of Kaorinite's daimons.

Even though it hadn't been the best moment for the Senshi, lying injured in the dirt like that, Haruka had thought of her as the most beautiful woman she had ever seen the second she had laid eyes on her; she had been so smitten by her beauty that she barely had registered the monster and what it looked like, only focusing on it long enough to take it down, something her werewolf strength had made quite easy for her.

Back then, she had been somewhat relieved that, even though she hadn't been unconscious yet, Neptune had been flat on her back instead of watching the fight; thus, she'd been able to go all out on the creature and finish it quickly, foolishly thinking that she'd never see Neptune again after this and that keeping the wolf from her was a priority.

_And that worked out just fine, _she sarcastically thought to herself, her tries to keep the wolf from the Senshi not even working for a full day. _Not that it matters though, _she then conceded, smiling slightly to herself again, fully relaxed now, focused on Michiru's body snuggled up to hers, _she didn't run screaming when she found out, and she's all yours now…_

"Mhm", Michiru let out as the taller woman's hand slid from her hair to her back, coming to a tender rest there, sounding as if she was close to drifting off into sleep, herself; for a while, Haruka caressed her back with lazy, but tender moves, then slowly stopped as she slipped deeper and deeper into her doze; before it could turn into real sleep though, a quite annoying, shrill sound suddenly echoed through the apartment, making her jump, a small wince coming from her at the unexpected noise.

"Christ", Michiru groaned next to her, sounding quite unhappy about the noise, as well, "that's my phone… Sorry, I should have put it on mute…"

With a regretful sigh, she disentangled herself from Haruka, then, without bothering to cover up, got out of bed; she felt Haruka's appreciative glance as she moved to get the phone, the smile this had put on her face vanishing though when she saw who was calling.

"It's my mother", she told Haruka, all at once feeling awkward as she stood there naked, even though the blonde still was looking at her with that admiring gaze, the fact that her mother merely calling being enough to make her feel insecure not only about herself, but about all of this, everything she shared with Haruka, only making her feel worse about it.

"Hello", she took the call anyway, after momentarily considering to just let it ring; while her mother greeted her, she moved back to the bed, sitting down next to Haruka and making the blonde frown by pulling the sheets over herself, something she didn't notice though as what her mother was saying took up all of her attention.

"Your father and I are in Tokyo this weekend", the elder woman was telling her, and Michiru could practically feel the colour draining from her face, something Haruka noticed as well since she gave her a worried look, then grasped her free hand, briefly making her look at her at last.

"We thought we could meet for lunch", Michiru's mother went on, saying exactly what she had been afraid to hear, "and you can bring your… new friend. Haruna, I think her name was?"

"Haruka", Michiru corrected, all awkwardness suddenly gone as anger filled her – she had told her mother more than once, and this simple, small mistake only was another instance of her parents not really caring about what she told them about her private life, "her name's Haruka. I suppose we can do lunch, I'm going to ask her and call you back."

"Alright", her mother gave back, "let me know today, please, your father and I have a whole weekend to plan."

"Sure", Michiru replied curtly, now not caring anymore if her mother heard her cold tone or not; to her relief, at least the elder woman wasn't a fan of small talk, only telling her once more to let her know about lunch quickly, then saying goodbye and ending the call, a heavy sigh escaping the Senshi as she lowered the phone, giving her partner an unhappy look afterwards.

"My parents want to do lunch", she then told her, "on Saturday. And my mother told me I can bring my new friend along, which is her way of telling me that I better do, so they can scrutinize you and probably say awful things about you and our relationship."

"I'll come if you want me to", Haruka gave back, squeezing her hand yet again, "and no worries, I'm not gonna wolf out and eat them, no matter what they say to me."

"That's not what I'm worried about", Michiru let her know with another heavy sigh, "I know you can… handle whatever they might say. I'm worried about what _I _might say to them, and… what you'll think of me once you know them…"

The last few words were said so quietly that Haruka probably wouldn't have heard them, if it hadn't been for her enhanced werewolf hearing; letting go of the smaller woman's hand, she put one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, relieved when her partner didn't pull away, but leaned against her, a shuddery breath escaping her as she rested her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"No matter what they do or say", Haruka told her, her voice down to a low rumble which sent shivers up and down her spine yet again, dully making her wonder if it ever would stop having that effect, "it won't change what I feel for you. Or how I see you. You are the most amazing, wonderful woman I know, and nothing your parents say or do to me or to you will ever change that."

"It wouldn't be the first time", Michiru mumbled, staring down on the sheets now, her sudden glumness prompting the blonde to pull her even closer, concern in her voice yet again when she asked if she wanted to talk about it.

"There's not much to tell", the smaller woman shrugged, giving her another brief glance when she felt her fingers begin playing with her hair yet again, something Haruka had taken quite the liking to, "I introduced one girl to them, back in school. They were… not outright insulting, they are too refined for that. But they know how to veil their insults, and shortly after that meeting, well… it was over."

"Not gonna happen with me", Haruka reassured her, briefly pausing to tenderly kiss the top of her head before she went on, "I don't care if they insult me openly or wrap it up in backhanded compliments, I'm not going to leave you."

"Wait until you met them", Michiru sighed in response, giving her another unhappy look, "it should tell you how much I look forward to this meeting that I hope some daimon will attack just before and I'll be too busy fighting it to meet them."

"Then you'd have to make up an excuse though", Haruka pointed out, earning yet another sigh, "they don't know, do they?"

"Of course not", the smaller woman replied, sounding so mortified that it made the blonde chuckle despite the serious topic of their talk, "they reacted badly enough when I told them that I'm gay. I don't even want to imagine their reaction to being told I'm a Sailor Senshi, my father would probably have a stroke."

"One would think they'd be proud", Haruka mused out loud, earning another shrug from the Senshi, "I mean, you are saving lives. Possibly the world."

"They'd be proudest if I got over this _phase_", Michiru replied, holding back the urge to let out yet another sigh, "found myself a nice Japanese man and married him. And perhaps have a child or two with him."

"The horror", Haruka gave back with mock terror in her voice, earning a slight giggle from her partner, glad that she had managed to make her laugh; she smiled at her, then leaned in for a tender kiss, gently caressing her cheek afterwards, making sure to hold her gaze as she spoke on. "Don't worry too much about them, okay? You mean too much to me to let them scare me away."

For a moment, she almost told her that she loved her too much to let that happen, then bit the words back, telling herself that it was way too early for that kind of confession; to her relief though, Michiru seemed to know what exactly she had wanted to say either way, giving her a small, but warm and loving smile in response, then pulling her closer for another kiss, all at once reassured that the blonde was telling her the truth and that nothing her parents might say to her would scare her away.


	7. Chapter 7

To Michiru's dismay, Saturday noon came way too fast, and Eudial didn't even do her the favour of distracting her with another attack; once more, their opponents were laying low, as if they somehow had sensed that she could have needed the distraction and refused to give her the satisfaction.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they hit just as we are having lunch", she told Haruka as they were on their way to said lunch; and even though she was still nervous about how it might go, she couldn't help but feel better whenever she glanced at the blonde.

Clearly, Haruka had dressed to impress, for once not wearing her usual attire of jeans and t-shirt, but slightly more formal clothing, black cotton slacks and a white button up shirt, a black blazer waiting on the back seat – and she even had gone through the trouble of taming her hair, having managed to not look as scruffy and unkempt as usual, despite Michiru having told her numerous times that she didn't need to do this.

"Okay", she sighed after the blonde had found a parking lot surprisingly close to the restaurant, "let's do this."

Giving her a reassuring glance, Haruka nodded, then got out of the car, prompting her to do the same; and as they walked to the restaurant together, she grasped the taller woman's hand, despite or maybe because of what her parents thought of such public displays of affection, taking in a deep breath as they reached the building and the blonde held the door open for her.

"It's gonna be okay", Haruka whispered to her, making her nod bravely; then, she spotted her parents and her stomach plummeted, her heart rate tripling – until Haruka moved up to her side and offered her arm, the physical contact calming her down considerably, the scent of roses filling her nostrils as she moved over to the table her parents sat at, even managing to smile at them.

"Mother", she greeted, sounding so formal that it surprised her partner, the taller woman almost expecting them to shake hands with their daughter, "Father. Thank you for the invitation. This is Haruka, my partner."

"Nice to meet you", Haruka told them with a charming smile, but obviously, her charm was lost on them, Michiru's father merely eying her with indifference while her mother let out a small sniff, none of them bothering to get up from their seats as they shook hands.

"Well", Michiru's father then stated, after the two younger women had sat down as well, "so you are the… girl our daughter's sharing her life with now. I have to say, I expected someone a bit more feminine."

Momentarily, Haruka had to fight the urge to raise an eyebrow, asking herself if this had been one of the cleverly veiled insults Michiru had warned her about – if it had been, there hadn't been much of a veil, after all, and if anyone else had made such a comment, she might have punched them or at least growled at them.

Since this were the parents of her girlfriend though, and she was determined to make a good impression, no matter what they'd say or do, she did none of those things, not even let her feelings show; instead, she kept her face carefully neutral, only Michiru noticing the way she grit her teeth just a bit harder at what the smaller woman's mother said next.

"I suppose that look does have its perks", the elder woman commented, eying Haruka once more while Michiru clenched her fists beneath the table, where no one could see what she was doing, "after all, no one will notice at first glance that you are both women. Really Michiru, if you're dating a girl looking so masculine, you might as well get over this phase completely and date a man."

"Good day", the waiter chose this moment to step up to the table, as if he had sensed how close the four of them were to having a nasty argument, "may I take your orders?"

Thankful for the distraction, Haruka ordered the first thing which looked appealing enough, ignoring the way Michiru's mother sniffed again at her choice of grilled beef; Michiru went with something lighter in form of a salad, levelling a cold look at the other woman once her parents had ordered as well and the waiter had retreated again.

"This _phase_, as you call it, will not end anytime soon", Michiru let her parents know as soon as the man was out of earshot, "so you might as well get used to the thought, and practice what you preached to me when I was younger."

Deciding that, even though she wasn't all too used to public displays of affection yet, one of exactly those was in order now, Michiru reached for the taller woman's hand and grasped it, glancing at her just for a second when she felt Haruka's fingers curl around hers, then focusing on her parents again, her voice remarkably steady despite her inner turmoil when she continued.

"Haruka means a lot to me", she let her parents know, ignoring the way her father's gaze darkened, "and I'll share my life with her no matter if you approve of her or not."

"You're still young", her father was the one to answer her now, the hint of derision in his voice making her blood boil, something Haruka clearly had heard as well, since her fingers held Michiru's tighter just enough to let her notice, "such things can change. Feelings can change. You are too young to know for sure."

Even though none of it showed on her face, Michiru thought back then, to the moment she, in her Senshi form, had found her partner in the woods, dreadfully injured; she remembered the sheer despair she had felt when she had been told that Haruka had been hurt too severely and had gone loup, then the love and happiness which had overwhelmed her when they had kissed for the first time, and the love and passion she felt each time they got intimate, feelings so intense that sometimes, they almost scared her.

"Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better", she said out loud, her whole recollection having taken mere seconds, not even long enough to let her parents notice, "but I know what I feel, and it's not going to change anytime soon."

"Sure, dear", her mother replied, the patronizing tone making her angry all over again; years of being dependent on them, and of them trying to form her into the woman they thought she should have been had left their imprint on her though, and thus, she said nothing, swallowing her anger, something which was made considerably easier by Haruka still holding her hand. Still she didn't trust herself enough to say something, knowing that now, her voice would give away her feelings for sure; for an uncomfortable minute, awkward silence hung over the table, then the waiter made a reappearance with their food, all four of them focusing on eating afterwards, none of them saying a word – and neither Michiru's mother, nor her father noticing the way Haruka glanced at them every now and then, shocked and enraged by the way they refused to see what a wonderful person their daughter was.

* * *

><p>Right after lunch had been eaten and Haruka had made a final attempt to be decent by paying the bill, an act which didn't even gain her a proper "Thank you" though, but merely a raised eyebrow from Michiru's father and another sniff from her mother, Michiru let her parents know that they had other things planned for the day, and didn't waste much time on goodbye; the whole lunch hadn't even taken an hour, but it seemed much longer to both Haruka and Michiru, silence between them once they had made their way back to the car and the blonde had carefully manoeuvred out of the parking lot, not driving back to their home though, but taking another road, something Michiru noticed, but didn't comment on, not caring where they were going as long as it was away from her parents.<p>

"So", Michiru finally broke the silence, not looking at the werewolf though, suddenly afraid of what she might see, remembering the look of regret and fright which had been on the face of the girl she had first introduced to her parents, years ago, "now you've met them."

To her concern, Haruka didn't respond, not even with some sort of unarticulated noise; seconds later though, an unexpected crunching noise came from the driver's side of the car, making Michiru flinch before she glanced over, her eyes widening in alarm when she realized what had happened – clearly enraged, Haruka had grabbed the steering wheel so tightly that it had given in beneath her fingers, the coarse hair covering her hands and face only another indicator for how angry she was.

"Haruka", Michiru brought out, startled, then fell silent, not knowing what else to say; only now, she noticed how slow and controlled Haruka was breathing, clearly in an attempt to keep her calm, a distinctive growl in her voice when she finally said something.

"If it had been anyone else", she then pressed out, sounding as if she was biting each word off, "but your parents, I would have gone full wolf in there and taken a piece out of each of them. How _dare _they talk to you like that."

Still at a loss for words, all Michiru could think of was to reach over and place a hopefully calming hand on her thigh; at least, she noticed quickly, it was enough to make her loosen her grip on the steering wheel a bit, letting her see the dents her fingers had made in the leather, momentarily amazed again at the so well hidden strength her partner possessed.

"It's not even what they said to me", the blonde went on, still sounding pissed off, but at least the hair was retreating again, showing Michiru that she indeed was calming down, "but… just disregarding your feelings like that, not caring a bit that you're an amazing person just because you're with me instead of with some guy…"

Her grip on the steering wheel tightened again, and she took in a deep breath while Michiru still found herself unable to do anything else than just look at her; her expression, the blonde noticed though as she took a brief glance at her before focusing on the road again, was one of touched amazement now, the alarm she had displayed a minute ago gone.

"Thank you", she said before the werewolf could ask her if she was alright, "I don't think anyone has ever… told me that before…"

"That you're amazing?" Haruka asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question, speaking on before Michiru could confirm or deny that, "well, about time then. Because you are. And you should never let anyone make you feel anything else, not even, or maybe especially not, your parents."

"Believe me, if I could, I'd cut all ties with them", the smaller woman murmured, looking out the window now, her gaze growing distant as she thought back to the time she still had lived with them, "they'd never just… let me be me. They always tried to make me into someone I wasn't, into this perfect wife my father might find a suitable man for. If I wasn't still dependent on them financially, I'd just tell them to contact me again once they're over their _phase _of disliking such a big part of me and then ignore all calls."

At her wording, Haruka let out an amused snort, growing serious again though moments later, to Michiru's surprise and slight worry pulling the car over and killing the engine before she turned in the seat to look at her, still looking solemn, but also warm and kind as she grasped her hand and replied at last.

"You know", she started, "in the pack, family is pretty important. So the thought of cutting all ties to them… it's just something which normally isn't done, unless the wolf does something particularly awful. But also, it's important to the pack to let each wolf be as they are, and treating one's child the way your parents treated you… That's unthinkable. So if you want to stop being dependent on them, you can. Just say the word and it'll be done."

For a second, Michiru was tempted to do just that, to tell her that she would move in with her and even let her and the pack support her financially until she could add her share; just as she opened her mouth though, a shiver ran down her spine, and her eyes went wide as she recognized the call of the sea, informing her of yet another attack.

Next to her, Haruka straightened up as well, having received the message at exactly the same second; without another word, she started the engine again, their conversation put on hold for the moment as she focused on driving to where the call was guiding them both, her eyes flashing yellow as she reached for the anger and the wolf again, getting ready to fight yet another battle, unware of how relieved Michiru was that the call had arrived just in time before she might have made a commitment for which it was, at least in her eyes, still way too soon.


	8. Chapter 8

This time, the call guided them to a rather unexpected location, namely a teahouse, something Haruka identified quickly thanks to the rather distinctive mix of scents; and just as they arrived there, on foot after having parked the car at a safe distance, with Haruka shifted to the first form and Michiru already transformed, Eudial shot out the victim's heart crystal, relying on the gun which apparently had been designed just for that instead of on the daimons, the way Kaorinite had.

"Hey!" a high-pitched voice called out, making Haruka grimace while Neptune briefly closed her eyes, asking herself what this kid was doing here and who exactly had messed up somewhere along the line so that said kid had been given those powers in the first place, "leave Tamasaburo alone, you nasty old hag!"

"Nasty old hag!" Eudial repeated, sounding so offended that it was comical and actually made Haruka snort with amusement, both the redhead and the kid so focused on each other that none of them noticed the werewolf and the other Senshi creeping closer to the downed victim, "how dare you! You know what happens to such cheeky kids, don't you? They get spanked!"

"I'll spank you", the kid – _Sailor Chibi Moon, she called herself, _Haruka randomly remembered – shot back, the blonde having to admit that the child had a lot of sass; before she could make true on that promise though, the werewolf and her partner had reached the fallen young man, an unarticulated, angry noise coming from Eudial as she recognized them at once.

"You", she then spat while Haruka moved to stand in front of Neptune, shielding her from possible harm so she could check the crystal, the low noise of disappointment she heard moments later telling her that it was another failure.

"No talisman", Neptune confirmed this out loud moments later, straightening up again, "sorry to disappoint you, Eudial."

"Gnah!" the redhead let out in response, once more briefly losing her ability to talk, "dammit! Fine, I'll find one sooner or later. But you won't be there because my daimon will take care of you!"

And with the last few words, the trunk of her car flew open, smoke billowing out and briefly obscuring their view on the daimon – before it hopped out, obviously a female again, this time wearing a kimono and what appeared to be some sort of oversized brush on her head, crying out "Chagama!" as she struck a fighting pose.

"Finish them!" Eudial yelled, already halfway into the car; and before anyone could react, she had gotten into the vehicle fully, then stepped down on the gas pedal and rushed off, the daimon looking after her in dismay, sounding amusingly offended when she voiced a complaint about being left alone and decided that Eudial was a coward.

"Well!" she then added, focusing on the three again, Neptune and Haruka now both having moved to block the child Senshi from view, protecting the kid with their mere presence, "I shall take care of you then! You are my guests today!"

Before Haruka or Neptune could tell her that they had no interest in being her guests, the creature had whipped out an earthen cup, stirring the contents rather enthusiastically, the smell which rose from it making the werewolf grimace – it didn't smell like tea should, but sharp and acidic, warning her well before it was actually used that this might not be as harmless as it appeared at first glance.

"Take care", she still had time to murmur, making sure only Neptune heard her and perhaps the kid standing behind them, jumping up and down in an attempt to see what the daimon was doing, "that stuff is dangerous."

Neptune nodded in acknowledgement, then the daimon cried out something about especially healthy tea and, with a flourish, emptied the cup in their direction; and while the smoking, smelly liquid still was flying through the air, Haruka turned, grabbed the surprised kid and then dived out of the way, Neptune doing the same, an explosion echoing through the quiet day when the liquid hit the ground where they had been standing the blink of an eye ago.

"Now, now!" Chagama said with a scolding tone, making Haruka snort yet again, "that is rude! Polite guests drink their tea!"

"Polite people don't steal the hearts of others!" the kid, still grasped tightly by Haruka, shot back, the blonde once more finding herself admiring her courage – here she was, not even ten years old, and still talking back to the daimon as if it was some annoying kid and not a monster made to hurt and maybe even kill them.

"I'll teach you manners!" the kid now added, suddenly holding a somewhat tacky, bright pink wand; to Neptune's slight amusement, the daimon and Haruka raised an eyebrow in surprising unison, but before any of them could do more than that, Chibi Moon cried out "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" – and the heart-shaped top of the wand started pulsating with pink light, Haruka just having a moment to worry if perhaps, holding the kid up that way might be dangerous before a steady stream of pink, glowing hearts shot from the wand.

For a few seconds, there was silence as they all just looked, the child rather embarrassed while now, it was Neptune's turn to raise an eyebrow, the daimon Chagama calmly sipping tea while the stream of hearts kept flowing – and, with quite the unimpressive reach, turning downwards after a few feet, vanishing into the ground instead of hitting the daimon.

"Come on", Chibi Moon hissed, squirming in Haruka's hold so she could look at her, "put me down or get me closer!"

"Let the grown-ups handle this", Neptune threw in before the werewolf had a chance to reply anything to that outrageous suggestion; and without giving the child time to say anything, she called on her power, the glowing ball of energy shooting from her fingers seconds later, the daimon letting out a startled yelp as she got hit, clearly not having expected to be attacked.

"Rude!" she cried out as soon as she had recovered from the hit; deciding that now, it was her turn, Haruka put the child down while Chagama started mixing up some sort of concoction again, then shot forward, reaching the creature before she had the chance to finish with that new mixture, one swipe being enough to smack the bowl out of the daimon's hands, the clay shattering when it hit the ground, another small explosion mixing with the sound of breaking pottery.

"My bowl!" Chagama cried, then took another hit, full to the face this time, hard enough to be thrown over; she yelped as she ended up on her back, her eyes going wide when she heard the growl Haruka let out in response to seeing her down.

Then, she heard Neptune call on her powers behind her once more, and hurriedly got out of the way, not wanting to be caught in the line of fire; and just as she had gotten out of the way, Neptune sent the attack flying, the only noise Chagama could let out afterwards being a low groan of pain and dismay.

"Chibi Moon!" Sailor Moon's voice came up moments later, somehow sounding both relieved and annoyed at the same time, "you can't just run off at a time like this! Neptune, Haruka, I'm so sorry, I hope she was no nuisance!"

"Finish daimon now, talk later", Neptune gave back, earning a frantic nod from the younger Senshi; after another kick at Chagama to make sure she would stay down, Haruka moved to her partner's side while Sailor Moon prepared her attack, the two others making sure that Chibi Moon stayed out of the way.

With the daimon already taken down, Sailor Moon's attack was more than enough to finish her off; she still had the chance to let out another cry, then she was gone, only a bowl similar to the one she had used and one of the strange daimon eggs left behind, the latter cracking open and releasing the disturbing shadow captured within, a high-pitched noise coming from the shadow before it vanished, as well.

"Alright", Sailor Moon said with a little nod, looking content for a second – before she turned and glared at Chibi Moon, so surprisingly and with such intensity that the little girl let out a squeal and moved a few steps back.

"Chibi Moon!" Sailor Moon scolded, even pointing an accusing finger at the child, "how dare you just run off like that! If Neptune and Haruka hadn't shown up, you might have gotten hurt!"

Only now, Neptune realized that the blonde Senshi was referring to her partner by her first name, her blood running cold as she remembered calling just that name out during the last fight, when she had gone down; at least though, it seemed as if this was all Sailor Moon knew about her, the older Senshi figuring that surely, she would have said something, had she figured out all of Haruka's civilian identity.

"Sorry", the kid meekly replied, shuffling her feet, "I just wanted to help Tamasaburo!"

"Next time, wait for me", Sailor Moon strictly told her, then focused on the couple again, even bowing slightly as she went on. "Please excuse her reckless behaviour. And thank you for making sure she didn't get hurt."

"No worries", Neptune gave back, moving a bit closer to Haruka and smiling to show that her words weren't as serious as they might sound, "I know all about recklessness. My partner tends to be quite reckless, as well."

"But I heal fast", Haruka found it necessary to point out, making Neptune smile and nod; they still took the time to tell Sailor Moon to take care, then turned and hurried off without another word, glad that once more, they had come out victorious, even though the fight hadn't brought them any closer to the end of their mission.


	9. Chapter 9

"You gonna come to my place?" Haruka wanted to know once they were back in the car and she was starting the engine, "or want me to drop you off at yours?"

The distinction she still made reminded Michiru of the offer which had been brought up just before the attack; briefly, she wondered if the blonde had simply forgotten, or was not mentioning it anymore because she had noticed that it had made her uncomfortable, then shrugged it off, telling herself that there was still more than enough time to worry about it and to make her decision.

"Well", she said out loud, reaching over and placing her hand on the taller woman's thigh, making her glance briefly at her, a smile curling her lips, "going to my place and being alone there sounds kind of dull. So if you want me around a bit longer…"

"Sure I do", Haruka gave back at once, "you know that. I always want you around. Which is why my offer still stands."

Gulping, Michiru threw her a look of slight unease now, not sure if she had noticed; seconds later though, she knew that she had as the blonde glanced at her yet again, giving her a reassuring smile before she focused on the road again, her voice kind, but serious as she went on.

"It's just that", she told the smaller woman, eyes on the road now, "an offer. You don't have to accept or decline it right away, it doesn't have an expiry date. Just think about it."

"Thank you", Michiru replied with a small sigh of relief, "it's not that I don't want to, I swear, it's just… I don't know, I think it's a bit early for us to move in together. I'd love to stay with you, but what if it doesn't work out?"

"I don't see why it shouldn't", Haruka shrugged, "but, as I said, just take your time. Whenever you're ready, my apartment's open to you. And you know the pack wouldn't mind helping both of us out for a while…"

"I know", Michiru reassured her, "and, honestly, if I have to depend financially on someone, I'd prefer your parents much to mine. But… Let's just wait a little while longer, alright?"

"As long as you want", Haruka smiled at her, making her smile back after a moment; she briefly squeezed her thigh, then changed the topic by asking if she wanted to go out for dinner or if they'd eat at her home.

"We can go out if you like", the blonde gave back with a little shrug, "I read this review about a new place which opened in town, we could check it out? Apparently, they have great sushi there."

"Will this be satisfying for the wolf in you?" Michiru teased in reply, well aware of how much all the wolves in the pack liked meat; with a low snort, Haruka reassured her that she wouldn't wither away and die if she didn't eat meat for an evening, smirking slightly as she went on. "Also, after how awesomely we handled this fight, I think we deserve a treat. So how about dinner and a movie?"

"The clichéd date", Michiru giggle, earning another snort from her lover, "that sounds just lovely. Especially considering we didn't really go on dates before we got together."

"That's true", Haruka had to admit, frowning to herself as she thought back to the time before their first kiss, "we mostly just went to fights. And sometimes had lunch or dinner afterwards. And when we did do something else, it wasn't classified as a date."

"Not officially", Michiru gave back, patting her leg and making her smile at her again, "but we both wanted it to be. Didn't we?"

"Yes", Haruka confirmed at once, "honestly, if I had figured that out earlier, I would have… done something about it much faster. Mom keeps telling me that she can't believe that I was too dense to notice the way you look at me."

"Well, your mom has an eye for these things", the smaller woman shrugged, while they reached Haruka's apartment building and the blonde focused on parking the car, "when I stayed with your parents after you got hurt, she told me that she noticed the way you look at me. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't notice, either."

"That does make me feel better", Haruka chuckled, then killed the engine; they smiled at each other, the blonde then leaning over and claiming a quick kiss before they got out of the car and made their way upstairs to her home, eager to get some quiet and relaxing time before they'd head out again for their first real date.

* * *

><p>For the lunch with Michiru's parents, Haruka had dressed up to impress them, an effort which had, in the end, been pretty much for nothing; and since she wasn't particularly fond of wearing such formal clothing, she was glad that for dinner with Michiru, she could wear her usual attire, the smaller woman looking much more elegant in her skirt and blouse than she did with her washed-out jeans and t-shirt.<p>

Thankfully, this time, there also hadn't been any need for her to try and tame her hair; before they had headed out for the movie, they'd both showered – sadly, one after the other and not together, since they never would have gotten done in time then – and she had washed out the copious amounts of gel she had used to appear less scruffy, now back to her usual look, the way Michiru's eyes lit up when she saw her fully dressed and ready to go confirming that this was the way the smaller woman liked to see her.

"Looking good", Michiru now confirmed just that, moving closer to her and putting her arms around her neck, prompting her to wrap hers around the smaller woman's waist, "and much less stiff than you did for lunch with my parents."

"Ha", the blonde let out in response, earning a little giggle from her partner, "if I'd put this much product in my hair every day, I think I would have gone bald by now. It's a good thing lunch with your parents isn't a weekly event."

"Thank God", Michiru replied with a shudder, prompting the taller woman to rub her back soothingly, "and, also, I like your hair the way it is." With the last words, she reached up and ran her fingers through said hair; it still was damp from the shower, since Haruka didn't like blow-drying it, but Michiru didn't let that stop her, moving her hand from the taller woman's head to her neck, then pulling her down for a tender kiss.

"Okay", the werewolf mumbled after they had pulled apart again, holding her even closer now, "we better stop now and get moving, or we won't make it to the movie after all."

"I know", Michiru sighed, moving out of the embrace with a heavy heart, telling her hormones in a strict voice to keep it down and that they had plans, "we should really go now, or we'll be late. And I know it's odd, but I really want to see the trailers."

"You are the best girlfriend ever", Haruka declared in response, prompting her to raise an eyebrow, "because I really want to see them, too. I love trailers."

Giggling, the smaller woman just shrugged; they shared another kiss, then finally left the apartment together, making their way to the blonde's car, both of them looking forward to the hopefully calm evening and their time together.

* * *

><p>After the – thankfully quite good – movie, the two of them continued on to the restaurant Haruka had read the review about; once they arrived there, they were glad that they had thought of reserving a table, since the positive reviews had given quite a bunch of people the idea to go there, only a few empty tables left, and those adorned with the small signs which showed that they had been reserved.<p>

"Table for two", Haruka told the waiter who had moved up to greet them, "reserved for Tenoh?"

"Oh, yes, yes", the smaller man gave back, smiling up at the considerably taller Haruka, "follow me please!"

He scurried off, the couple following him; he led them to one of the few free tables, discreetly removing the "Reserved" sign before he told them he'd get them the menus and hurried off.

"Good thing we reserved that table", Michiru commented, glancing around, making Haruka nod; then, her gaze focused on the smaller woman again, a slight smile curling her lips as she replied. "Good thing indeed, or we would have had to go and find some other place to eat. Which would have been bad, because I am quite hungry by now."

"Me too", Michiru agreed, hoping that the waiter wouldn't take too long; to her happiness, he appeared at their table again with the menus and to take their drink orders just a minute later, rattling off the daily specials before he retreated once more, all of the staff obviously quite busy with the number of guests.

"That review really brought them a lot of business", Haruka made similar observations, "they must be thrilled. It must be quite hard to keep a new restaurant running in…"

"Haruka!" a happy voice interrupted her from the next table, the waitress which had taken the new guests there moving away while the two new arrivals sat down, beaming at the couple, "and Michiru! Have you read the review, too?"

"Hello, Usagi", Michiru smiled in reply, "and Mamoru. And yes, Haruka did, as did half of Tokyo, it seems."

Once again, she remembered that they were almost certain about Usagi being Sailor Moon, and her friends forming the rest of her Senshi team; they knew for sure that Rei was Sailor Mars, and considering that the two groups were remarkably similar, it wasn't a far-fetched conclusion. To her dismay though, this also meant that Usagi might know Haruka was the werewolf who had been fighting by Sailor Neptune's side, especially now that she had used Haruka's name right in front of her; and if Usagi really was Sailor Moon, it wouldn't be hard for her to realize that the Haruka she was looking at now was the same who always helped Neptune, and from that realization, it wouldn't be hard to figure out who Neptune was.

_So what if they know, _she then thought, with one ear listening to Haruka and Mamoru talking, the two by now having spoken often enough to know about each other's love for motorcycles and once more discussing just that topic now, _it's not like you're enemies or anything. This whole thing might even be easier if you let them help with the mission…_

Then, she remembered how idealistic the younger Senshi always were, and how eager to save lives; about the saving lives part, Haruka and she felt the same, but they both knew that there were three lives they wouldn't be able to save, namely the holders of the Talismans, and she didn't want to imagine what it might mean for the fate of the world if Sailor Moon and friends wouldn't let them acquire them.

_You know what would happen, _she then admitted to herself, a shudder briefly running down her spine, _the Silence will come, and the world will end._

She swallowed heavily at the thought, then forced those ponderings out of her mind, telling herself that there was enough time to worry about it later and that now, she should enjoy her date with Haruka, reminding herself of the fact that this was more or less their first real date and that this was no time to dwell on these things.

"…should try a Kawasaki", Haruka was saying just as Michiru focused fully on the conversation again, "nothing against American motorcycles, but I bet mine could leave yours in the dust any day."

"Careful", Mamoru smirked in reply, "I might take you up on that, and then you'll be the one left in the dust."

"Unlikely", Michiru threw in, not wanting to come across as antisocial and after just having sat there hanging after her own thoughts for a while, "Haruka is a really good driver. Normally, I really don't like motorcycles, but when I ride with Haruka, I feel perfectly safe… and she still gets us everywhere on time."

"I feel honoured", Haruka smirked while Mamoru smiled and Usagi gushed about how sweet this was; then, her stomach rumbled loudly and she blushed, making her boyfriend laugh slightly while he picked up the menu and handed it to her, this serving as a signal for Haruka and Michiru to take a look at it, as well.

They all quickly decided what they wanted to eat, Haruka amusing Michiru and stunning Mamoru and Usagi with her choice, namely the biggest mixed sushi platter they had; she smirked at their looks, only remembering in the last second that they had no idea she was a werewolf and thus just told them that she worked out as an excuse, realizing that she could hardly tell them that she had a metabolism which worked so fast that she needed copious amounts of food after a battle.

_Well, you especially can't tell them that, _she then realized as she put the menu down again, none of her thoughts showing on her face, _Usagi might be Sailor Moon, and if she is, she probably knows who Michiru and I are, but there's no reason to rub it in their faces like that._

"You surely are hungry", Mamoru finally was the one to comment, putting his menu down again as well, the way Michiru and Usagi followed suit serving as a signal for their waiters to come over and take their orders, "you must have worked out a lot today."

"Oh, I did", Haruka gave back, with a brief glance at Michiru, both of them briefly smiling; both Usagi and Mamoru noticed the silent exchange, but none of them said anything, merely looking at each other as well knowingly, well aware of whom they were sitting close to, but neither of them saying it out loud, thus leaving both the werewolf and the Senshi in the dark about the extent of their knowledge.


	10. Chapter 10

After the dinner, which just had been as good as the review had promised, Usagi suggested not splitting up yet, but going out for drinks; and even though this had started as their first real date, and thus hanging out with another couple wasn't something which had been part of the plan, Michiru and Haruka found themselves unable to say no at the pleading looks she gave them, thus agreeing without hesitation, making her smile so happily that they almost automatically smiled back at her.

"I know a nice bar not far from here", Mamoru told them as they left the restaurant together, "they have great alcohol-free cocktails, and they won't make a fuss about Usagi technically being too young to go there if she sticks to them."

"I will", Usagi promised immediately, going starry-eyed at the thought of visiting a bar with her boyfriend, "let's go there!"

"Sure", Haruka shrugged, while Michiru nodded her agreement, "we don't have any other plans, and I can imagine worse company."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Mamoru gave back with a small laugh, the werewolf clearing her throat in response as she realized that this might not have been the best way to word it; Mamoru just chuckled again at her obvious embarrassment, then began to lead the way, Usagi cheerfully hurrying to his side and grasping his hand, Michiru doing the same with Haruka's moments later.

"You know", she then said, making the taller woman glance at her, "as much as what my parents said during that dreadful lunch upset and annoyed me, they were right about one thing – at least, we don't have to worry about random idiots making nasty comments towards us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of being with you or anything, but… this has been such a nice evening, and I'd hate it if some dumb person ruined it."

"Heh", Haruka let out in response, giving her hand a tender squeeze, "honestly, if anyone was dumb enough to say something to us, I'd ruin his evening. You know I got a good right hook."

"You do", Michiru confirmed, while Mamoru briefly looked back at them with a raised eyebrow, clearly having heard some of what Haruka had said and now wondering what they were talking about, "but I wouldn't want our kind-of first date to end with you punching out some guy."

"Noted", Haruka smirked, then Mamoru gained their attention again by pointing out a neon sign up ahead and letting them know that this was the bar he had been talking about; Usagi let out a squeal of joy, then pulled at his arm in an attempt to make him walk faster, prompting Haruka and Michiru to do the same so they'd keep up with them, the blonde smirking at the younger girl's enthusiasm.

"One might think she's never been to a bar before", she then said, making Michiru giggle, "but it's really cute how enthusiastic she can get about such small things."

"Indeed", Michiru agreed, her turn now to give the other woman's hand a tender squeeze, "and who knows, perhaps this is the first time she is going to a bar, remember that she's technically not old enough yet to go to one. Or the first time she does so with her boyfriend."

"Good point", the blonde had to admit, then both fell silent as they reached the building; being the perfect gentleman, Mamoru held the door open for the three of them and was the last to enter, and immediately, a myriad of smells hit Haruka, making her sniff in dismay and reminding her of why she didn't exactly like going to bars.

Apart from the body odour of a whole bunch of people crammed into a small space, she could smell the alcohol they were using for the cocktails and shots, a sharp, invasive scent which almost made her eyes water, and since this was one of the bars where smoking was allowed, the cigarette smoke only made it worse, the mixture of odours assaulting her fine sense of smell with the force of a sledgehammer.

"Haruka", Michiru murmured next to her, sounding concerned, clearly having noticed her reaction to the bar, "are you alright?"

"Fine", Haruka gave back, keeping her voice low as well so Mamoru and Usagi wouldn't hear, "it's just… too many smells. I'll get used to it in a minute…"

She sniffed again, then wiped at her eyes, thus missing both another concerned look from Michiru and the glances Mamoru and Usagi exchanged; none of them made any comment though, Mamoru merely suggesting that, after getting their drinks, they should move to the non-smoking area of the bar, Haruka nodding immediately, figuring that the place would be easier to bear there, with at least the smell of cigarettes not in the air.

"We don't have to stay here for long", her partner told her in a low voice as they followed Mamoru to the bar, "just one drink, to be polite, then we can leave."

"I'll be okay", Haruka reassured her once more, "it just was a bit much when we entered, but my nose will get used to it, no worries."

"Alright", Michiru gave back, with another doubtful and concerned look at her, "but if you don't get used to it and it gets too much, tell me, okay? I don't want to make you stay here if you're not comfortable."

"I appreciate that", the blonde smiled at her, then they had reached the bar and focused on the selection of drinks; since Haruka still had to drive, she chose a non-alcoholic drink, Michiru doing the same, her example prompting Mamoru to follow their example, not wanting to be the only one at the table to have alcohol.

Once they had gotten their drinks, Mamoru lead the way again, taking them to the non-smoking area of the bar; and there, Haruka found that it was a bit easier for her, with no cigarette smell bothering her fine nose, the blonde relaxing visibly as they found a free table and sat down.

"This is really good", Michiru was the first to say something after taking a first, tentative sip of her drink, "quite sweet. Want to try, Haruka?"

"Sure", the blonde shrugged, then bent over to her and took a sip of the drink through the straw sticking out of it; she made a thoughtful face as she tasted it, as if she wasn't pondering a simple cocktail, but questions of existence and the meaning of life, then smiled, the sparkle in her eyes making Michiru's heart beat faster as their gazes met.

"Sweet indeed", Haruka drawled, her tone of voice even making Usagi blush, despite the fact that the blonde wasn't talking to her, "but not nearly as sweet as you."

"Oh Haruka", Michiru got quite flustered, charmed by her girlfriend's words, "that was a lovely thing to say."

"Just telling the truth", the werewolf gave back with a smirk, while Usagi shot Mamoru a look as if to silently ask him why he didn't behave with her that way; before she could ask the same question out loud though, and perhaps make the whole moment uncomfortable, Haruka focused on the two of them again, glancing around the bar before she told Mamoru that it was indeed a nice place.

"Yes", Mamoru agreed, visibly glad that the couple liked the place he had taken them to, "it is. And it has a dance floor, too, so perhaps we can have a dance or two later, Usagi?"

"Yes!" Usagi squealed, so enthusiastically that it made them all chuckle; noticing that other people in the bar were looking at her with raised eyebrows, she blushed and tried to hide behind her drink, only making the others laugh more, all four of them enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and each other's company.

* * *

><p>Just as Mamoru had suggested, after they had finished the first round of drinks, they moved to the dance floor; and even though Haruka once had told her that she wasn't really into dancing, she turned out to be surprisingly good at it, giving Michiru cause to wonder if this was yet another werewolf perk, her natural predatory grace helping her with dancing as much as it did with fighting.<p>

"You dance very well", she told the taller woman as they moved over the dance floor, enjoying the feeling of Haruka's hand on her back and her other holding hers, "especially considering you told me you're not really into it."

"Well, this song isn't too difficult to dance to", Haruka smirked in response, "and, compared to you, I probably have all the elegance and grace of a dancing gorilla."

"You're exaggerating", Michiru gave back, amused by this comparison, "I'm sure we both actually look… quite…" She trailed off as she noticed an elder man sitting at one of the tables close to the dance floor watching her, the way he smiled and nodded at her telling that she should know him; he was vaguely familiar, and after a few moments of looking at him, she realized why – it was one of her father's business partners, and he had been over to her parents' house for dinner a couple of times when she still had been living with them.

"Great", she mumbled, dismayed about the fact that he obviously had recognized her and already knowing where it would lead, "some business friend of my father is sitting over there. He's probably gonna ask me for a dance the second this song ends."

"Say no", Haruka suggested in response, clearly not as well educated about dance etiquette as her partner, raising an eyebrow at the shocked glance Michiru gave her as an answer, the smaller woman explaining a moment later.

"I can't just decline him for no good reason", she let her partner know, "that wouldn't be… proper."

"You don't want to dance with him, that's reason enough", Haruka gave back, "plus, it also isn't proper to ask a girl who's young enough to be his daughter for a dance in a place like this."

Opening her mouth to retort, Michiru found herself unable to come up with an argument against this; stunned, she just swallowed, years of being taught how to act when her father's business friends were around clashing violently with what Haruka just had said, even though she knew it to be the truth.

"Song's over", the blonde told her, taking a step back from her, "and looks like your father's buddy is on his way over here."

"Young Miss Kaioh", said man greeted her with a smile and a little bow, either not noticing or not caring that the smile she gave him in response was as fake as it could get, "how nice to meet you here. Would you do me the honour of having the next dance with me?"

Once again, her upbringing almost made her answer without thinking, give him the agreement he was expecting; in the circles he and her parents moved in, daughters were expected and raised to respect their elders, especially if said elders were business partners, and, as long as whatever they requested was within reasonable boundaries, fulfil those requests as good as they possibly could.

Thus, she almost said Yes without thinking about it, just the way her parents had taught her during the first eighteen years of her life; then, she felt Haruka's presence right beside her, calm, but ready to step in the second it might be necessary, giving her the strength she needed to overcome her upbringing and say what she really thought, instead of what she knew her parents would have wanted her to say.

"Thank you, but no", she replied, smiling politely now, a frosty smile Haruka never had seen from her before, "I'm here with my partner, and it would be rude to dance with someone else."

"Oh", the man replied, Michiru only now remembering his name to be Satoshi, his last name still not coming to her mind, "but it just would be one short dance. I'm sure your… date wouldn't mind, would you, Sir?"

Normally, Haruka didn't correct people when they mistook her gender, not caring enough to; this time though, as she felt Michiru tense up next to her at the way the man didn't bother to respect her answer at once, she decided that she wouldn't let it slide, putting on her most charming smile as she replied. "In fact, I would mind, mostly because she already declined. Also, I am not a Sir."

At this, he didn't quite react the way she had expected, namely with slight surprise or even a bit of shock; instead, he merely raised an eyebrow, looking her over as if to find out if she was telling the truth, a hint of coldness in his voice when he responded. "Ah. So the rumours are true, after all. I have to say, I thought they are just ugly stories, I never would have expected this from you, Miss Kaioh. You always seemed well refined when we met."

"Sorry to disappoint you", Michiru replied icily, now not even bothering to try and sound polite anymore; the look he gave her as an answer, one of utter contempt and even a hint of disgust, was enough to make Haruka's blood boil, her charming smile gone and her voice cold as well when she spoke up once more.

"I suggest you return to your friends", she told the man, hiding her anger well when he looked at her, only Michiru noticing the way her stance shifted slightly, taking on that predatory undertone she by now knew so well from all of the pack, a clear warning sign Satoshi was obviously missing.

"I shall", he replied, now not bothering to sound friendly and polite anymore, either, "and I shall make sure to mention this to your parents, Miss Kaioh. I imagine they won't be happy to hear of your… behaviour… in public."

"Beat it", Haruka told him in response, having enough of him and his behaviour towards her girlfriend; clearly, he hadn't expected this, since he stared at her again now, barely able to keep his outrage from making his voice tremble.

"How dare you speak to me this way", he demanded to know, loud enough to make others notice them, Usagi and Mamoru among them, the young man frowning as he carefully steered Usagi closer to the three, without ending the dance, "I am a respected member of society, an upstanding citizen! I will not let some… freak talk to me like that!"

Until this very moment, Haruka had given her best to keep the wolf down, remembering well what her parents had told her before she had moved to Tokyo, about how she should only in emergencies let her wolf come forward when normal people were around to witness it, and even then only if it absolutely couldn't be avoided; the second he talked to her that way though, with another contemptuous look at Michiru to show she wasn't the only freak here in his eyes, all those thoughts of caution and keeping the wolf hidden went out the window, and she reacted accordingly.

She let out a low, but rumbling and threatening growl, just loud enough for the man and Michiru to hear, unaware that Mamoru and Usagi had moved close enough to pick it up, as well; they both kept a perfectly straight face, not letting it show that they had heard, while Satoshi was clearly startled, taking a step back from her, his eyes going wide.

"Is there a problem?" Mamoru now stepped in, moving to stand next to Michiru so the man bothering the couple knew whose side he was on; Satoshi took another look at Haruka, then shook his head and, without another word, turned and headed back to his table, Michiru letting out a heavy breath the moment he was gone.

"Thank you", she then said to the young man next to her, "we were having it under control, but it was nice of you to step in. I think though that Haruka and I should leave now."

"Sure", Mamoru gave back, at once realizing and understanding that the encounter had destroyed the couple's mood for dancing, "get home safely, it was a nice evening…"

"Yes", Haruka agreed with a slight smile, making Michiru glance at her gratefully by placing one hand on her back, in a gesture of comfort and reassurance, "we should do that again some time. Enjoy the rest of the evening."

"Oh yes", Usagi agreed at once, nodding enthusiastically, "it was great, and we didn't even plan it! Imagine how awesome it will be once we do make plans!"

Her mirth made Michiru smile again as well, and she nodded; she told the couple that she had enjoyed herself, as well, then took hold of Haruka's hand, the simple touch being enough to help her keep her calm as she made her way outside with the blonde, hiding well that her heart was racing in her chest and that the encounter had shaken her up much more than she had thought it would.


	11. Chapter 11

Just like after the lunch with her parents, they both were quiet at first as Haruka drove them back to her home; this time though, she hadn't bothered to ask if Michiru wanted to go there with her, taking one look at how tensely she sat in the passenger seat, with her hands clasped tightly in her lap, and immediately figuring out that Michiru wouldn't want to be alone for the rest of the evening.

"I'm sorry", Haruka was the one to break the silence this time, making the smaller woman look at her in surprise, not sure what she was apologizing for, "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that with him. Now he'll probably tell your parents that their daughter's abnormal girlfriend grumbled at him like some sort of dog."

"He'll tell them some outrageous story anyway", Michiru gave back, a heavy sigh following those words, "since apparently, there are rumours of my preferences going around in the business circles my father frequents, and these men gossip worse than fishwives, he'll be happy to have something he can tell when they have drinks after sealing another deal. Don't apologize for standing up to him."

"I could have done that without snarling at him", Haruka mumbled, keeping her eyes on the road even though she wanted to look at Michiru, "but… The way he was talking to you, looking at you…"

"That brought your wolf out", Michiru finished for her, now making her glance over at her briefly after all before she focused on the road again, "and it wasn't surprising. It has happened before, remember? When Kaorinite threatened us?"

"Can't help it", the blonde gave back, sounding a bit guilty now, "I just don't like people… being asses to you. No matter if they're our enemies or just random guys who badmouth you and look at you as if you're something the cat dragged in."

"And I really appreciate it", Michiru reassured her, reaching over and placing her hand on the taller woman's leg, since she was holding the steering wheel with both hands, "really, I… I told you how my parents tried to make me into someone I wasn't, unable to accept who I really am. They never would have stood up for me like that, you're the first person ever to do this for me, and it just makes me feel so… loved."

For a second, Haruka nearly told her that she loved her in response, then bit the words back, telling herself that it was too early for such heartfelt confessions – and that, if she wanted to make one anyway, it shouldn't be done in the car while she was driving, but would have to wait for a more suitable environment.

"I'm glad", she thus just said in reply, "because you deserve to feel that way. And I'll do anything to make you feel like that, even if I'll end up compromising my secret by growling at badly behaving businessmen."

"Just don't let your mother hear that", Michiru gave back with a small giggle, making Haruka snort in amusement as well, "or she'll scold you for letting the wolf out among random civilians."

"She'd ground me for that, if she still could", the werewolf dryly gave back, making her partner laugh again as she imagined Ramika telling the taller Haruka that she was grounded and how the blonde sulked in her room afterwards; glancing at her again, the taller woman smiled at her, glad that she had managed to cheer her up enough to make her laugh, the sight and sound of her happiness being enough to make her heart beat faster, once more making it clear to her how deeply in love she was with the other woman.

* * *

><p>Once they had arrived at Haruka's apartment, it was quickly decided that neither of them wanted to go to bed yet; and thus, they prepared tea in the kitchen before they moved on to the living room, getting comfortable on the couch and just zapping through the TV channels for a while until they had found something they both felt like watching.<p>

Making sure that she wouldn't accidentally spill her hot tea on the taller woman, Michiru snuggled up to her, smiling when immediately, Haruka wrapped one arm around her, then moved her hand to caress her hair; turning slightly so she could look at her, the smaller woman stole a brief, but tender kiss from her, then snuggled up to her again, sounding thoughtful when she spoke up. "You know, apart from that little run-in with Satoshi, it really was a very pleasant evening. A good first date, I'd say, even though it didn't turn out quite as we thought it would."

"Yeah, it turned into a double date", Haruka gave back with a small chuckle, making Michiru giggle as well while she nodded, "but it was actually nice. And I think Usagi still ponders how I could eat all that sushi without exploding or something."

"It's a good thing we didn't run into them at a steakhouse", Michiru replied with a small laugh, "if she'd see you polish off one of those big T-bones you like so much, she'd probably faint."

"Or not, if she's really Sailor Moon and figured out who I am", Haruka pointed out, "but if she did, neither she, nor Mamoru said anything."

"Perhaps she's not well-informed enough about werewolves to know that you need to eat a lot after a change", Michiru gave back, taking a sip of her tea before she went on, "if Yuuichirou and Rei don't tell them much about what being a werewolf means, how would they know?"

"Good point", Haruka had to admit, frowning to herself as she wondered if Rei and her werewolf friend were keeping such simple facts from the others even now, after Yuuichirou's nature had been revealed to them, "I'll ask him the next time I see him. It's a good thing he wants to uphold the code of silence about us, but once someone knows about the wolf, there's not much need to do so."

Just as Michiru nodded, her phone started to blare away in her bag, making them both jump at the unexpected noise; she gave Haruka an apologetic look as she got up to take the call, the blonde in the meantime muting the TV, giving her lover a sympathetic look when she groaned as she looked at the display, then let the werewolf know that it was her parents.

"Again", she then groused, "calling twice in one day? That's more than they called all of last month."

"Huh", Haruka let out, not sure what else she could say; Michiru sighed once more, then finally took the call, a hint of surprise in her voice and on her face when she heard her father's voice instead of her mother, who usually was the one to call her.

"What", she then said after just listening for a while, the phone not loud enough to let Haruka pick up what he was saying, despite her werewolf-enhanced hearing, "Father! That is not true, she…"

Now, Haruka could hear him yell as he interrupted her, clearly not caring to hear her side of whatever he was talking about; and the more he said, the paler Michiru became, to the blonde's great concern, the look on her face prompting her to get up from her seat and move to her side, the smaller woman glancing up at her when she placed one hand on her back and shot her a concerned and questioning look.

"Father", Michiru tried again while the elder man just kept talking, not yelling anymore, but not sounding all too friendly, either, "Father, listen to me! …you can't… Father!"

All at once, his voice was gone, replaced with the beeping tone which told Haruka that he had hung up; and then, Michiru started to tremble, the phone falling from suddenly numb fingers, the blonde managing to catch it at the last possible moment with her free hand, her other still on the smaller woman's back.

"Michiru?" she tentatively asked, moving to stand in front of her so they were facing each other, her alarm only growing when she saw that Michiru was close to tears, "what is it? What did he say?"

Swallowing heavily, Michiru found herself unable to speak for a few moments in response, sure that she would burst into tears the moment she'd open her mouth; highly concerned now, Haruka pulled her into an embrace, and she let out a shaky breath as she returned the hug, another tremble running through her as she held on tightly to the taller woman.

"His business buddy called him", she finally brought out, still close to tears, "and told him what happened tonight. He said that you threatened him, and my father said that, unless I break up with you, they'll stop supporting me… He called you a ruffian and that, as long as I'm with you, he can't s-see me as his d-daughter anymore…"

Her voice cracked, then broke at the last few words, and the tears finally did come; and immediately, Haruka pulled her as close as possible, trying hard to not let her anger show, not wanting Michiru to think that she was angry at her, making random soothing noises instead as the smaller woman cried into her shoulder, trying hard to give her the comfort and reassurance she so obviously needed.


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm not going to break up with you", Michiru mumbled quite some time later, back on the couch with Haruka now, snuggled into her arms, the taller woman tenderly caressing her back and hair, "if he wants to stop supporting me financially, as he put it, fine, let him. I will not let him blackmail me into giving you up…"

Even though her initial reaction had shown Haruka that the thought of cutting all ties to her parents hurt Michiru more than she let it show now, she nodded encouragingly; briefly, she thought of offering making fresh tea, then realized that what Michiru needed now was her embrace and her comfort, and not a hot beverage.

"It'll be okay", she thus said, "threatening others with withholding money might work in his business meetings, but you know he can't harm you that way, right? You can move in here with me, you know that, and my parents… the whole pack won't mind upping the support a little bit so it'll work out for us."

"I know", Michiru gave back, a small sigh escaping her before she went on, "I was hoping it wouldn't come to that, I don't want to… I don't know, make it seem as if I'm leeching off of you, and the pack…"

"No one would ever think that", Haruka reassured her at once, momentarily startled that this was what Michiru feared, after how warmly the pack and her family had welcomed her, "come on, you brought me back after I'd gone loup. That alone would be enough to tell them that you aren't just after money, and they've gotten to know you since then. No one will think that."

"I wish this wasn't necessary", Michiru murmured in reply, resting her head on the taller woman's shoulder and letting out another sigh, "honestly, I wish my parents were more like yours… But I guess the mere fact that my father believed his business partner more than me about what happened tonight shows how far they are from being like that."

"Their loss", Haruka told her at once, glad when she managed to make her smile, even though it was barely more than a slight lifting of the corners of her mouth, "seriously… I know this is hard, and I can't imagine how I would feel if I had… the same troubles with my parents. I know it hurts, but if they can't see what an amazing person you are, after all these years…"

"They're not gonna see it anytime soon", the smaller woman finished for her, once more feeling close to tears, but biting them back, telling herself that she had cried enough over this and that they weren't worth her tears, "as I said, I wish it wasn't necessary, but… if your offer still stands…"

"Of course it does", the blonde gave back immediately, "come on, you don't even have to ask. Hell, if you want to, we can go get your stuff from your place right now, there's enough room in the car, it's not like you have much left there anyway."

"You know what", Michiru replied, sitting up straight again, to her dismay moving out of her embrace in the process, "yes, let's do that. And once I got all my things in the car, I'll call… him and tell him that he's free to cancel the lease on the place."

"Sure", the taller woman smirked, glad that her lover's dismay and pain about this had turned into determination, "let's go then, come on. I think I still got some of the cardboard boxes I used when I moved here stored in the cellar."

"Great", Michiru smiled, quickly warming up to the thought of living with Haruka now, despite having thought that it was too early for this not all too long ago, "lead the way."

Before she did just that, Haruka pulled her close for a tender kiss, then got up from the couch and headed for the door, with Michiru right behind her; it didn't take them long to find a couple of boxes in the cellar, and not even an hour after Michiru had ended the disastrous phone call with her father, they were on the way to her apartment, the Senshi now more than eager to get her things from there and move them to Haruka's home, suddenly sure that, despite how early it was, everything would work out just fine and that she was doing the right thing.

* * *

><p>Thanks to the fact that a lot of her belongings had been moved to Haruka's home during the course of the last four weeks, there wasn't much she had left to pack up, the biggest item being her easel and the few blank canvas she hadn't made use of yet; due to the weight of said items, Haruka carried them down to the car last, after everything else had been stowed away in the trunk, Michiru feeling oddly free and relieved when she locked the door for what she knew was to be the last time.<p>

"Want to call him right now?" Haruka smirked as they walked back to the car, ready to drive back to now what was their home and now just hers anymore, "or wait until we're home?"

It touched Michiru how easily the blonde made the transition from calling it "my home" to simply "home"; momentarily, she was tempted to call her father right away, then decided against it, figuring it could wait until they were back at their apartment and Haruka could focus on the call as well instead of on the street and on her driving.

"It can wait", she thus said, making the taller woman nod; they shared a brief kiss before they got into the car, and Haruka started the engine, starting to talk as she steered the car through the quiet, nightly streets of Tokyo, her words making Michiru smile slightly as she sat there in silence and just listened.

"We can put all your painting stuff into the guestroom if you like", the blonde told her, sounding so enthusiastic that she was almost rambling, "um, unless you want to sleep there, which would be fine I guess, I mean, we haven't been together _that _long, but…"

"Oh Haruka", Michiru finally spoke up with a small laugh, "you don't really expect me to sleep in the guest room, do you?"

"Well, I'd prefer you not to", Haruka admitted in reply, smirking at her, "but if you'd been uncomfortable with the thought of sharing my bed, I wouldn't have complained."

"That's sweet of you", the smaller woman smiled, reaching over to briefly pat her leg, "but I have shared your bed with you before. It's not making me uncomfortable."

"I'm glad", Haruka smirked, "the guestroom it is then for your painting equipment. You can practise your violin there, too, if you like, or in the living room, wherever you want. This is gonna be great."

"I hope so", Michiru was a bit more cautious, "honestly, when you offered the first time, I thought it's too early. But now… It just feels like the right thing to do, and I hope this feeling will turn out to be right."

With the last few words, she reached over to grasp Haruka's hand, as said hand just had come to rest on the gear stick; and the second her fingers wrapped around the werewolf's, something which hadn't happened for quite some time occurred yet again, the scent of roses filling the small car, not strong enough to make Haruka sneeze, but with enough intensity to make them both notice it.

"…I think this means it'll work out just fine", the werewolf was the first to comment on the scent; smiling, Michiru nodded her agreement, remembering the other times the scent had appeared out of nowhere, when Haruka had touched her for the first time, when they had kissed for the first time and during… other firsts they had shared, wonderful times she knew she'd never forget.

"Yes", she agreed verbally as well, leaning back into the seat, suddenly completely relaxed and comfortable, "I think it will."

* * *

><p>Her father had reacted just as she had expected him to, namely with slight bafflement at how easily she brushed off his threat of ending all the financial support; refusing to tell him what she would live of now, she simply had told him that it was taken care of, not even giving him the tiniest peace of mind by withholding the information that she wasn't doing anything illegal.<p>

Clearly, even though doing so had been somewhat petty, and Michiru hated being petty, it had worked; her father called her a few more times that evening, then during the following days, from his office and from his cell phone, but she never took the calls, and he never bothered to leave a voice mail.

"Does he know where you live now?" Haruka wanted to know after yet another one of those calls, having come in while Michiru had been practising her violin and she had been listening, mesmerized by her lover's skill with the instrument and the grace with which she played it until her ringtone had ruined the classical music, "I mean, did you ever tell them where I live?"

"No", Michiru gave back at once, glaring at the phone, displeased by the interruption of her practice, "but he knows your full name, so he can find out where you live, I guess, if not the official way, then through his contacts. I doubt he will though."

The phone stopped ringing, but she didn't lift her violin again as Haruka shot her a questioning look at her words; with a small, somewhat sad smile, she shrugged, then replied, and the aloofness in her voice might have fooled anyone who didn't know her well into believing she didn't care. Haruka knew her well though, perhaps even better than the Senshi was aware of, and it didn't fool her for a second.

"I wish I could say he's worried about me", Michiru told her, still with that fake indifference in her voice, Haruka suddenly just _knowing _that the years of living with her parents had given her the ability to speak like this whenever it seemed appropriate, that surely, her parents had told her again and again that a true lady didn't give in to feelings like anger and maybe even sadness, "but, as horrible as that sounds, I'm sure he's not worried about me as a person, but that I might do something outrageous, end up in the news and tarnish the good family name."

"Stop", Haruka replied, with so much warmth and tenderness in her voice that it made Michiru's heart clench up, "don't… Look, I know this pains you more than you want to admit, to me, maybe even to yourself. And that's okay, the way your parents behaved towards you, it's inexcusable, and I understand you don't want to deal with this right now, not with everything else you got on your plate. But… you don't have to hide this from me, you don't have to sound as if you don't care when I just have to take one look at you to see how much it's hurting you."

If Haruka had added her assumptions about how Michiru had been taught to hide her feelings like that, she would have agreed without even thinking about it – all her life, her parents had told her how to act, how to show her feelings, which of those she could show and which she should never let surface, and even though she had tried to resist after a while, when she had realized how much what her parents wanted clashed with what she wanted, the damage had been done, the words of both her father and mother ingrained so deeply that often, she acted the way she had been taught without even noticing it.

Now though, as she held Haruka's gaze, all those thoughts flitting through her mind within a single heartbeat, everything she had been taught about how to control her emotions vanished into nothingness; the werewolf's small speech about just that topic had started to uproot what her parents had tried so hard to teach her, and the way she looked at her now, with nothing but understanding, warmth and love, did the rest, tears filling her eyes despite how hard she tried to hold them back, still thinking that she had cried enough over this.

"It hurts", was all she could say, in a small, trembling voice, everything out in the open now, nothing hidden behind her mask of indifference; and within the next two heartbeats, quite the feat since her heart was racing in her chest again, Haruka was up and in front of her and wrapping both arms around her and pulling her close, the tight embrace pushing her the rest of the way, a sob so harsh that it hurt ripping from her throat.

"I know", Haruka murmured into her ear, and those simple words only made it worse; if she had said anything else, any of the meaningless platitudes people normally said when they tried to comfort someone, Michiru knew it never would have had that effect on her – not like that simple understanding and acceptance had, that pure acknowledging of her feelings and the reassurance that it was perfectly fine to feel this way, and to let it show.

She let out another sob, a less painful one this time, but still bad enough to make her tremble; but as she buried her face in Haruka's shirt and just cried, letting the taller woman hold her and rub her back and comfort her, part of her once more realized how right this felt, how good it was to be in the werewolf's arms, and she once again was glad about the decision she had made, knowing that the pain of losing Haruka would have been so much worse than what she was going through right now, and knowing that nothing could ever be worth giving up the woman who meant so much to her.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Haruka asked her a few days later, giving the smaller woman another concerned look; since she had asked this question a dozen times by now though, and the answer had always been the same, Michiru just nodded this time, earning a low sigh from the blonde before she finally accepted her answer, but not without shooting another worried glance her way.

"I have to warn you though", she then went on, making the Senshi look at her, "if anyone there does or says a shitty thing to you, the wolf's probably gonna make an appearance."

"As long as you just growl and don't get hairy", Michiru shrugged, clearly not all too perturbed by the thought of Haruka growling at people who were behaving badly towards her, "and perhaps you should let anyone who's dumb enough to start a fight with you have the first hit. Then, you can hit back and tell them it was self-defence."

"Let's hope it won't come to that", Haruka sighed, letting go of the steering wheel with one hand to tug at her tie; she never had been fond of such formal clothing, especially not of ties, but the event Michiru had been invited to, and the fact that she had been asked to perform there and would earn quite a bit of money with said performance, demanded formal attire, to her great dismay.

"And let's hope there won't be an attack", she grumbled, making Michiru smile, the smaller woman appreciating the fact that she had put on the suit and tie for her, "cause if I have to go wolf, it'll take forever to get out of those clothes."

"They'll just rip if you go into beast form, no?" Michiru wanted to know, frowning, "or stretch? The suit you wore for the concert did."

"Yes", Haruka confirmed, "but I was talking about going full wolf, which is much easier for me now, even though I still don't know why. The suit might survive that, but the shirt and tie surely won't."

"Good point", Michiru had to admit, frowning as she thought of how quickly the blonde could change into her wolf form now, even when there wasn't a full moon, "well, as you said, let's hope there won't be an attack then."

Nodding, Haruka held back a sigh as she pondered how likely that was – ever since she had gotten up that day, she had felt uneasy, jumpy, and she knew Michiru well enough to know that she felt the same, both of them aware of what it might mean – it wasn't the call of their destiny yet, but it was something very, uncomfortably close to it.

"If there will be", Michiru said out loud, as if she had guessed what the blonde was thinking about, and perhaps, Haruka realized, she had, as she thought of the connection they undeniably had, "it will be there. Have you noticed lately that we often just _happen _to be where an attack is going to happen even before the call comes up?"

"Sure did", Haruka confirmed, "perhaps this is what you mentioned a while ago. The call getting… better."

"Yes", the smaller woman replied, then fell silent as the mansion she had been invited to appeared up ahead; next to her, Haruka let out a low whistle, clearly impressed by the building's size and architecture, the same emotion showing through her voice as well when she spoke up again. "Wow. That guy must be rolling in dough or something."

"He is", Michiru confirmed, "he got rich in his youth, apparently by acting quite ruthless towards the competition, thinking that he could live a happy life once his bank account's full enough. Then, it was full enough, and he realized he had no one to share it with, and now he's trying to make up for it."

"Better late than never, I suppose", Haruka gave back, to her relief quickly finding an empty spot on the large parking space in front of the mansion, "now let's hope he only invited people worthy of sharing his joy with him, and no douchebags who'll make a pass at you."

"Haruka", Michiru replied with a small laugh, "keep in mind that not every man – or woman – who _makes a pass at me_, as you put it, is a douchebag. I've been told that I'm quite pretty, and others seem to see it that way, as well, so, if it seems like I'm not seeing anybody, they try to figure out their chances."

"Quite pretty", the blonde echoed, even going as far as pitching her voice higher in a – rather poor, Michiru thought – imitation of her girlfriend's voice, something which earned her a raised eyebrow, "yeah, like me getting _quite hairy _when I go full wolf. You're not quite pretty, Michiru, you're breathtakingly beautiful."

The almost casually said compliment, especially following the ridiculous imitation of her voice, took the Senshi aback, and she felt her cheeks heat up as she blushed – _again, _she thought to herself, once more amazed at how easily Haruka could do that to her, the way no one else could; not sure what to reply, she swallowed quite heavily, her voice barely above a whisper when she finally murmured "Thank you", the blonde giving her a calming, reassuring smile as she noticed how unexpected her words had been and how much she had stunned her lover.

"Don't have to thank me for the truth", Haruka gave back, reaching over and briefly grasping her hand, just long enough to give it a squeeze as reassuring and calming as her smile; and then, she got out of the car and moved around it to open the passenger side door for Michiru, offering her arm to her once she had gotten out with her violin case in hand, earning a happy smile from the Senshi as she hooked her free hand into the crook of her elbow.

"Well", Haruka said, "let's get this party started, then. And I still reserve the right to call anyone, male or female, who hits on you a douchebag."

"You do that", Michiru replied with another small laugh; the blonde smirked at her, then they got moving, making their way to the mansion's main entrance, the Senshi well aware of how stunning they looked together, something which was evidenced by the way the other arriving guests were looking at them – the suit she was hearing hid Haruka's female form well, and with her hairdo and masculine features added to that, no one seemed to realize that she was female, all of them seeing her as a handsome young man, who was lucky enough to have a beautiful girl moving right next to him.

"You know", she murmured, noticing how a group of girls their age was checking Haruka out, ignoring the fact that she was still holding on to her arm, "perhaps I should claim the same right. These girls over there are looking at you as if they want to undress you right here and now and do indecent things to you."

"Ha", Haruka let out, "bet they'd wanna stop those indecent things the second my shirt comes off and they see my bra."

"Good point", Michiru replied with a laugh, making the blonde smirk again and wink at her; then, a chorus of very familiar voices called out "Haruka! Michiru!", and they both froze before they turned to look, neither of them really surprised to spot Usagi and her friends, the feeling of unease coming back full force as the group they were almost sure was forming the Inner Senshi, complete with Mamoru, approached them, only convincing them further that not all too soon from now, another attack would happen.

* * *

><p>To her credit, Haruka had tried to stay alert once they had greeted Edwards, the evening's host, an English man with an impressive moustache and sideburns, and Michiru had been shown to a room in the first floor where she could fine-tune her violin and warm up in peace; and while she had been busy with that and Haruka had ended up sitting in the large ballroom – <em>a freaking ballroom, <em>she had thought to herself as she had entered it – she had been perfectly capable to be on her guard, without letting anyone notice that she was, appearing as calm and relaxed as anyone else at the party.

Then, Michiru stepped onto the small makeshift stage which had been put up at one of the walls, and, after Edwards had briefly introduced her, had started playing; and not even a minute later, all thoughts of alertness and being on her guard were forgotten as all Haruka could focus on was her, her heart hammering up to her throat as she listened to her play, watched her graceful movements, the ease with which she moved the bow over the strings and the speed with which her fingers danced over them.

All the others in the room thought that Michiru was playing for all of them, sharing her talent and skill with them; as she neared the ending of the first song though, the first of eight she'd play, her eyes met Haruka's, and the werewolf immediately knew that they were all wrong. They were all given the honour, the privilege, of seeing and hearing her perform; but as she stood on that stage, her gaze fixed on Haruka, the blonde knew that she was playing just for her, not giving a damn about anyone else in the room, about what they might think.

Haruka had heard her play before, a few times, especially since they had moved in together and Michiru practiced daily; it never had been like this though, with the music being played just for her, each note coaxed out of the instrument perfectly, and each note telling her what Michiru wouldn't or perhaps couldn't even say with words, at least not yet.

_I love you, too_, she thought to herself, not noticing that next to her, Rei was now more focused on her than on Michiru; the younger girl was smiling to herself, a small, secret smile unnoticed by her friends, her gaze on Haruka for a few more seconds before she focused on the violinist again, the smile still curling her lips as she watched Michiru play.

For the rest of the short set, Haruka noticed nothing of the world around her, too focused on Michiru; and only once the last song had ended and the last note had faded away, the blonde snapped out of her music-induced trance, blinking while Michiru bowed, a small, short gesture, not even lasting two seconds, then stepped off the stage and moved to the table Haruka sat at.

Seeing her approach got Haruka moving, as well, and she almost shot up from her seat; thanks to the flawless performance, a lot of the people in the room were still focused on Michiru, and thus, a lot of the guests got to witness how the blonde pulled her partner in a tight embrace the second she was close enough to do so, earning a slightly startled giggle from the smaller woman before she, somewhat awkwardly, hugged her back with one arm, still clutching her violin case with the other.

"That was amazing", the werewolf told her before she had the chance to say anything, "_you _were amazing. Heck, I think I still got goose bumps all over."

"Thank you", Michiru smiled, her cheeks taking on quite the healthy red tinge again, "I'm glad you liked it, because while Edwards did hire me to play for all of his guests, honestly, the only one I was really playing for was you."

"I know", Haruka mumbled, feeling like pulling her even closer and kissing her, but fighting the urge, knowing that Michiru wasn't comfortable with such public displays of affection, and surely even felt less thrilled about the idea when they were standing in a ballroom filled with people.

"I see you found a seat with our acquaintances", Michiru distracted her from thoughts of kissing, and thus from the idea of going out onto one of the many balconies of the mansion, where they might find someone privacy, "think there's room for me at that table?"

"For sure", the blonde gave back at once, "we'll just find you a chair and…" She trailed off as the foul smell hit her nose, a nauseating, somewhat numbing odour which made her eyes tear; next to her, Michiru stiffened, showing that she had noticed it, as well – and seconds later, she instinctively grabbed the taller woman's arm as all around them, people started fainting, slumping down to the ground and remaining there motionless.

"It's the attack", Haruka was the first to say out loud what they both were thinking, "go, find some place safe to transform, hurry!"

Momentarily, Michiru was tempted to point out that she could transform right then and there, that no one was awake anymore to witness; then, she heard a car approaching and realized that Eudial was coming and just nodded, running off seconds later, eager to find a spot where she could transform – and hurry back before Eudial could unleash whatever daimon she had brought along this time and perhaps put Haruka in danger.


	14. Chapter 14

"Chikon!" Neptune heard the daimon cry out just a few minutes later, as she was running back to the ballroom; for a few seconds, she sped up, only to cringe as dreadfully loud and dreadfully _wrong _music came up, filling the whole mansion, such a cacophonic mess that she could barely refer to it as music in good conscience.

_Just for that, I'll Deep Submerge you into next week, _she grimly thought to herself as she started running again, quickly reaching the ballroom and bursting through the double door, quite the dramatic entrance, _ruining beautiful music like—_

Her thoughts stopped as she got the first look at the scene in the ballroom, not just trailed off, but _stopped_; her eyes went wide, and her breath got caught in her throat as all she could do was stand and stare, fear sending her heartbeat through the roof and making her legs feel as if jelly had replaced all the muscle there.

The daimon, yet another female, green-skinned creature wearing a bulky evening gown and powdered wig, of all things, stood in the middle of the ballroom, turning a crank which protruded from her hip, bringing the horrid music from the gramophone which either was part of her body or of her costume; the Inner Senshi were standing in a line a few feet away from the daimon, looking ready to fight, but one glance was enough to tell Neptune that this wasn't all they were doing.

They were also protecting Haruka, she noticed, feeling strangely numb now as her gaze focused on her lover, the blonde on her knees behind the five girls; and while the dreadful noise the creature might call music clearly was disturbing them, it was so much worse for Haruka, her eyes squeezed shut as she pressed her hands against her ears, the cacophony so loud that Neptune couldn't even tell if her grit teeth meant that she was growling or maybe even screaming.

Finally. Sailor Mercury spotted her, and from the way she waved her arms and her lips moved, Neptune figured that she called out to her, perhaps telling her that she had to get Haruka out of there; and then, she saw the droplets of crimson seeping out between Haruka's fingers and trickle over the back of her hands, and realized that this was bad enough for her to make her bleed, _that her ears were bleeding, _and it finally got her moving, all thoughts of fighting the daimon and even of checking the pure heart which was hovering over Edward's lifeless form forgotten as she ran to her partner's side.

"Haruka!" she yelled as she grabbed her, nearly making her voice crack as she tried to be loud enough to be heard over the horrid noise the daimon still was producing, "come on, get up, come on!"

She wasn't sure if Haruka had heard her, but at least, she reacted to her frantic pulling and tugging; staggering, she somehow came to her feet, and, with one arm wrapped around her waist and the other gripping her shoulder, Neptune steered her out of the ballroom, to the nearest door leading outside, onto one of the balconies.

The noise was still loud out there, and still dreadful, bad enough so Haruka kept covering her ears; then, Neptune kicked the door shut and the music was muffled considerably, low enough so she didn't need to yell anymore when she moved to Haruka's side and said her name.

"Gonna be fine", the blonde hoarsely croaked in response, slowly lowering her hands, blood still trickling from her ears, down her throat now, to Neptune's alarm, "healing's gonna kick in any second now… Ow, my head… Go."

"What", Neptune gave back, flabbergasted, sure that she had heard her wrong; then, Haruka looked up at her, hard determination in hr eyes, and repeated the previously said word, a hint of urgency in her voice. "Go. Help them. Make sure his heart isn't a talisman."

"Yes", the Senshi realized that she had to do just that after another second, momentarily shocked at how she had ignored her mission, even though it just had been for a minute, "you'll be okay?"

"Yes, now go", Haruka gave back, and after another concerned look at her, Neptune did just that, hurrying back inside – and making sure to close the door behind her again as fast as possible, not wanting to subject her lover to the terrible noise once more, energy crackling around her hands as she called on her power, suddenly determined to finished this creature as fast as she possibly could, eager to make sure her partner really was alright.

* * *

><p>After the fight had been finished and the creature had been taken down, Michiru insisted on driving back home, pointing out that Haruka wasn't quite as fine yet as she claimed; the fact that the blonde didn't really protest only showed her that her suspicion had been correct, and after she had gotten behind the steering wheel, silence filled the car for a while, until she cleared her throat, making the werewolf look at her.<p>

"When I realized that I'm… the feelings I had for you", the smaller woman started after another few seconds, time she had needed to sort her thoughts, "I told myself that acting on them would have to wait. That… getting into a relationship with you might jeopardize the mission, might make me focus on you instead of our objective during a crucial moment."

A red traffic light forced her to stop the car, and she took the chance given by this to look over at Haruka, her gaze meeting the werewolf's, her voice solemn and serious as she continued. "Today, this is exactly what happened. I saw that you are in danger, in pain, and I forgot all about the mission and what we have to do to stop the world from ending."

The traffic light switched back to green, and Michiru focused on the road again , not finished talking though, something Haruka sensed and thus kept quiet, merely looking at her, sudden dread making her feel cold as she asked herself where this might lead.

"This can't happen again", Michiru told her, her gaze firmly fixed on the road, even when she saw Haruka fidget in her seat from the corner of her eyes, "the mission has to come first. So… I'm not suggesting that we… put the relationship on hold or anything, I think we both know that this isn't an option."

"Thank God", Haruka gave back with unmistakable relief in her voice, "for a minute, I thought you're breaking up with me."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily", the Senshi replied, with a slight smile now, only increasing the blonde's relief, "but… As I said, what happened today can't ever happen again. So I want you to promise me something, and I'll make the same promise to you."

"What kind of promise are we talking about", Haruka wanted to know, frowning slightly, not sure what to expect; Michiru shot her a brief look, then focused on the road again, her voice remarkably calm and level as she replied, despite the quite horrid thing she was saying. "If anything happens to one of us – no matter what, injury or… something worse… the other one has to go on. The mission has to be fulfilled, no matter if it's both of us or just one."

"…I'm not sure I can promise that", the taller woman replied after a moment, her frown deepening, "I mean, I know we have to find those talismans and what will happen if the bad guys find them first, but… I don't know if I can do it without you. So if anything happens to you…"

"If anything happens to me, you have to go on", Michiru gave back, surprising the blonde by pulling the car over and stopping, then turning in the driver's seat and grasping and the taller woman's hands, "just like I will have to go on without you. Believe me, I wish it'll never come to this, but… if it does… And if the world is in danger of ending… You have to promise me."

Part of Haruka knew that she was right, that saving the world was more important than their relationship; the thought of losing Michiru to their cause, and of going on without her, was more than she could bear though, her heart clenching up at the mere idea, her strong emotions forcing her to struggle for control as the wolf wanted to break free in response to her dismay and fear.

"…fine", she made herself say, despite how wrong it felt, unable to shake off the feeling that she was making a grave mistake, but realizing how important it was for Michiru, "I promise."

Unbeknownst to her, Michiru felt that this wasn't the right thing to do, either, but told herself that what she felt for Haruka was to blame for that and that their mission had to come first; thus, she briefly squeezed the blonde's hands, then let go of her and got the car moving again, silence between them the rest of the drive home, both of them silently hoping that they would never have to keep the fateful promise they just had made to each other.


	15. Chapter 15

Days passed without an attack, and Michiru and Haruka used this brief time of peace, however short it might be, to get some well-deserved relaxation; Michiru practiced her violin and even talked Haruka into posing for one of her paintings, only to end up distracted by her partner's lean form as she focused on it, the session ending earlier than planned and in the bedroom.

On another day, they visited the pack, having dinner with Haruka's parents and learning how Yuuichirou was doing; to the blonde's relief, he seemed to integrate well into the pack, accepting his spot in the hierarchy without comment or complaint, Tatsuo praising his willingness to work hard as they sat at dinner.

Then, three days after the last attack, Michiru awoke with the feeling of unease again, and one look at Haruka after the blonde had gotten up as well showed her that she was feeling the same; neither of them received a call strong enough yet though to tell them where they had to go, and thus, they sat through a rather tense breakfast, neither of them feeling much like eating, but both knowing that they had to, if another fight was approaching.

"Do you think we should go out and just, I don't know, scout?" Haruka wanted to know after breakfast had been finished, "I don't know about you, but I have the feeling that the attack is gonna happen soon, and maybe we'll get there faster if we're not sitting here waiting for it to happen."

"Yes", Michiru agreed at once, not liking the thought of sitting around in their home and just waiting for God knew how long, "and perhaps, the call will get stronger if we get closer to where the attack will happen. Let's just hope we won't end up going in a wrong direction."

"I doubt that'll happen", Haruka shrugged, briefly distracting her partner from the feelings of unease by pulling off her pyjama top and giving her a good view of her back, "whoever… or whatever… is behind those calls hopefully won't let that happen."

"I wish we knew more about how this works", Michiru replied with a small sigh, forcing herself to look away from the sight in front of her as the blonde kept changing into clothes more suitable for going out, either not noticing or not caring what she was doing to Michiru with that, "then, perhaps, we could make better use of it."

"Well, it has been getting better", Haruka pointed out, finally getting done with changing, to the slight relief of her partner – she surely didn't mind the sight of Haruka less than fully clothed, but knew that, if it had taken her much longer to get dressed for the day, they wouldn't have left the apartment, not even the bedroom, anytime soon.

"Yes", she agreed, finally remembering that she should put on something which wasn't her pyjama, as well, and moving to the wardrobe to do just that, "and perhaps, it will improve even further in the future. But for now, I guess we will have to work with what we have."

Haruka let out some vaguely agreeing noise in response, now her turn to appreciate the sight as Michiru changed; she since she knew just as well as the Senshi though that they had no time to enjoy intimacy, thus holding back the urge to pounce her and rip the clothes she just had put on off again right away.

"Ready?" she asked instead once Michiru had finished getting dressed; the smaller woman nodded in reply, and they headed out together, not sure where they were going yet, but both knowing that sooner or later, they'd be led to yet another fight, both of them wondering if perhaps this time, they might be rewarded with a talisman at last.

* * *

><p>They walked without really having a proper destination for quite some time, strolling along hand in hand, even managing to keep up a conversation despite both of them focusing on the feeling of unease they both still had, said feeling only increasing more and more with each hour that passed.<p>

"Not long now", Michiru murmured as she briefly closed her eyes, focusing fully on the call and on how it was increasing; next to her, Haruka nodded, then her brow furrowed as she took in a deep breath, a hint of puzzlement in her voice as she replied. "Alright, this is weird. I can smell blood, but no one's screaming or running away."

"Blood drive", the smaller woman pointed out in response, gesturing to the van parked up ahead and the people standing in line there to give their blood, "and it seems to be going well."

"Apparently", the werewolf gave back, feeling a bit dumb for not having noticed this on her own; before she could ponder this further though, a familiar figure caught her eye, and she raised an eyebrow, now her turn to point something out to her partner.

"Look", she did just that, nodding at the girl, "it's Minako. I suppose that means the others are not far behind then…"

"…and the attack will happen soon", Michiru finished for her, then frowned, sounding thoughtful as she went on. "And what is Minako doing at the blood drive? She's not old enough to give blood, is she?"

"No, she's not", Haruka agreed, watching how the blonde walked to the volunteers handling the registration, the two men letting her pass without protest, to the surprise of both the werewolf and the Senshi, "but apparently, these guys don't know that."

"We should stick around for a while", Michiru suggested, making the taller woman nod at once, "something will happen not far from here, and soon."

"And we better keep Minako from noticing us", the werewolf added, making it Michiru's turn to nod her agreement, "if she's here because of the coming attack, the others are gonna show up sooner or later, and they still don't officially know who we are."

"I want to keep it that way", the Senshi told her, "unless it absolutely can't be avoided, they shouldn't know. If they do, they'll want to know what we are after, or they'll find out on their own, and once they know…"

"…they might not agree with our way of handling it", Haruka finished for her, making her nod yet again; they both glanced around to make sure the other girls were nowhere in sight, then found a spot just out of sight, from where they could keep an eye on Minako without being noticed.

It didn't take long until the blonde got done with giving blood, and stepped out of the van; and it surprised neither Haruka, nor Michiru that moments later, Usagi came running up to her, too far away to let even the werewolf pick up what they were saying, but apparently worried for her health as she shoved an armful of vitamin drink bottles at her.

"Wonder where the other three are", Haruka murmured as Minako and Usagi started walking away from the van, Minako already draining the first of the bottles, "bet they'll join them in a minute or two."

With some vaguely agreeing noise, the blonde got moving, the smaller woman right beside her; they kept their distance, making sure neither Usagi, nor Minako would notice them, both of them wondering if they were subconsciously moving closer to the next victim or if they were wasting their time following them.

For a while, nothing remarkable happened, Minako and Usagi just walking and Minako downing one vitamin drink after the other; and then, just as Haruka started to think that they were indeed wasting their time, a car shot out of the intersecting road up ahead, the driver side window rolling down – and Eudial poking her gun out, unnoticed by the two girls as she had made sure to stay behind them.

Gritting her teeth, Michiru fought the impulse to yell out a warning, the way Haruka's hand tightened around hers showing that the blonde was doing the same; both of them looked away the second Eudial pulled the trigger, the smaller woman taking a heavy, watering breath as the shot hit and Minako's pure heart crystal was blasted from her chest.

_Please don't let this be a talisman, _she thought to herself, unaware of the fact that Haruka had exactly the same thought; they both knew that it was wrong to think this way, that they had to find the talismans before their enemies did – but they knew Minako quite well by now, almost considered her a friend, and the thought that she might have a talisman within her, and what the loss of it might do to her, was something none of them wanted to be confronted with.

Without noticing that she was holding her breath, Michiru waited for Minako to go down, as all the others who had lost their heart crystals had; instead, to her astonishment, she slumped forwards, cupping the crystal with both hands – before she let out a somewhat eerie, high-pitched giggle, sounding absurdly proud when she declared that she had a pure heart after all.

"I'm glad for you", Usagi responded, concern in her voice, "but it has to go back in your body!"

In response, Minako let out another giggle – and then, in a move nobody had expected, she started running, Eudial's curse reaching the ears of Haruka and Michiru as they both stood and gaped, never having seen anyone who'd lost their heart crystal capable of staying conscious, let alone running off the way Minako had.

"Holy crap", Haruka said out loud what they both were thinking, "that was… unexpected."

"We got to follow her", Michiru snapped out of her shock as well, making the taller woman nod; briefly, she was dismayed about the fact that she couldn't transform, out in the open as they were, then shrugged it off and started running, Haruka right beside her, Eudial either not noticing them or not caring as she stepped on the gas pedal and chased after the girls, as well.

Still disturbingly unperturbed by the loss of her heart crystal, Minako kept running, down the sidewalk for a while, then suddenly to the right, into what Haruka and Michiru quickly recognized as a parking garage; Usagi was right behind her, and Eudial caught up fast, as well, her car vanishing in the garage while the werewolf and the Senshi sped up, either to get to the fight as quickly as possible.

"…lock your doors!" they heard a rather annoying voice call out, reaching the garage's entrance just as what appeared to be a large wall made of steel began to close it; with a final burst of speed, they managed to get in before the entrance was sealed, quickly taking in the scene in front of them now, Minako lying on the floor out cold with her pure heart crystal hovering in front of her, Usagi standing a few feet away and staring at them in dismay – and Eudial and the daimon she had brought along, said daimon equipped with a heavy steel door on one arm and what looked like some sort of locksmith's tool on the other, having successfully locked them all in there without a way to escape.


	16. Chapter 16

"Well, well, well", Eudial was the first to speak, momentarily ignoring Minako and her pure heart crystal in favour of eying Haruka and Michiru, "look who decided to join our little party. You should have stayed outside, would have saved you from a lot of harm."

"Leave the girl alone", Michiru replied, unimpressed by the threat, even though she knew the unpleasant situation they were in now – here they were, locked up with Eudial and her daimon and Usagi, both of them unable to change without giving themselves away to their enemy and to who they thought might be Sailor Moon, a suspicion which only got strengthened by the helpless, dismayed way Usagi was looking at them.

"Or what", Eudial wanted to know, raising an eyebrow and smiling, a cold, patronizing smile, "you'll punch me?"

"They might not", Usagi threw in before Michiru could reply anything, obviously having made a decision, a look of determination on her face now, "but I will! _Moon cosmic power, make up!"_

"I knew it", Haruka murmured to Michiru while the younger blonde went through the transformation, making the smaller woman nod; clearly, Eudial hadn't known, since she looked rather shocked, her eyes wide and full of disbelief.

"You", she finally said, just as the transformation finished, "you are Sailor Moon! This is my lucky day! Doorknobder, take her out!"

"Take her out", the daimon repeated, sounding so puzzled that, despite how serious the situation was, it made Haruka smirk, "I'm not here to fight! I just lock doors!"

"What", Eudial flatly replied, forcing the blonde to bite back laughter now at her deadpan tone, "what do you mean, you don't fight! This is what you have been made for!"

"No", Doorknobder protested, shaking her head empathically, "I was just made to lock doors, and I did that!"

"Shut up, shut up", Eudial nearly shrieked, now making Haruka wince with the shrill tone of her voice, "and take her down! Now!"

"Alright, alright", the daimon mumbled, looking at Eudial uneasily – before she steeled herself and shot forward, using the door on her arm to throw Sailor Moon down and pin her between the ground and the steel, looking highly uncomfortable as she did so.

"Good", Eudial grumbled, turning away from them to focus on the heart crystal again; before she could do more than that though, Michiru called out "Stop!" with enough sharpness and authority in her voice to actually make her freeze, her expression angry when she glared at the two again moments later.

"Doorknobder!" she then barked, "take those two out, too, see what they get for interfering with my business!"

"If I have to", Doorknobder sighed, not all too happy about it; and she looked even more uncomfortable when Haruka glared at her in response and growled audibly, but still came to her feet, sweating as she raised the door, gulping when another rumbling growl came from the blonde in response.

Still, with that look of unease on her face, the daimon got moving again, leaving Sailor Moon on the ground behind her as she barrelled herself towards Haruka and Michiru; they moved apart without missing a beat, causing the creature to slam into the wall between them, a little yelp coming from her as she hit the concrete face first.

Snarling, Haruka brought her fists up as Doorknobder turned around again, shaking her head as if to clear it; and even though the blonde knew that she shouldn't do it, that officially, Sailor Moon still had no idea who they were, and that Michiru wanted to keep it that way, she wanted to let the wolf out, to take care of this creature before it could seriously hurt one of them – so far, the daimon seemed rather inept at fighting, but the weight of the steel door it wielded alone was enough to crack bone, and the blonde didn't want to take the risk of the daimon landing a lucky hit and injuring Sailor Moon or her partner.

Then, she heard Michiru cry out behind her, the by now so familiar phrase which began the transformation; Sailor Moon let out a gasp and Eudial a shriek of disbelief, her eyes only growing bigger when Haruka took this as the signal to change, as well, a satisfied growl coming from her as her body bulked up, taking on the beast form Eudial had seen her in a few times before.

"Sailor Neptune!" Sailor Moon called out gleefully as the transformation was finished and Neptune was standing there, the bulky werewolf by her side; and just as Eudial clenched her fists in anger, various attacks were called outside, the heavy steel wall which blocked the entrance trembling visibly as they hit.

"Even more of them?!" Eudial cried out in disbelief, shaking her head, "what the… Is there a nest somewhere or something? Doorknobder! Do something!"

"What do you want me to do?!" the daimon protested, shaking her head, gesturing at Neptune and Haruka, "look at them! Especially the tall one! She can take me apart with one hit!"

The agreeing rumble Haruka let out only made Doorknobder sweat more, and she looked as if she was about to faint on the spot; Eudial let out an unarticulated noise of rage, going as far as kicking at the daimon – before she ripped the back door of her car open and grabbed the weapon she had stowed there, Neptune taking back a step in alarm when she recognized it as a flame thrower.

"You all stay where you are!" the redhead snarled, aiming the muzzle at the still lifeless Minako, "or I'll burn her to a crisp!"

The rest of the Inner Senshi broke down the entrance-blocking wall just in time to hear her threat, freezing on the spot; smiling cruelly, Eudial nodded at Neptune and her partner, a hint of triumph in her voice now as she told them to stand close to the others, unless they wanted her to set Minako on fire.

Grumbling, Haruka did as she had been told, Neptune right beside her; the others glanced at them in worry, silently asking them if they had some sort of plan, while Eudial smirked in triumph, then turned to Minako again, only to recoil in shock when she saw that the blonde was staggering to her feet, a transformation pen in her hand now, causing the redhead's eyes to go wide.

"You, too!" she still had time to say, then Minako started the transformation, Sailor Venus standing there a few moments later, raising her hand as she called her attack, the glowing chain of hearts shooting from her fingertips and, with impressive aim, hitting the tank of Eudial's weapon, an enraged shriek coming from the redhead as her ammunition hissed out of the tank, the weapon now useless.

"Dammit!" she then yelled, ripping the flame thrower off and tossing it to the ground, "damn you all to Hell!"

With surprising speed, she hopped into the car, Doorknobder scrambling to get into the backseat; with energy crackling around her hands, Neptune tried to stop her, but before she could unleash her power, Eudial had slammed her foot down onto the gas pedal and drove off, leaving the Senshi behind, in the awkward position of having to face that now, their identities had been fully revealed to one another.

* * *

><p>"Well", Sailor Moon was the first to speak up, "now something we've been suspecting for a while turned out to be true."<p>

"Indeed", Neptune replied, the way the other Senshi exchanged knowing looks telling her they had figured it out even though they hadn't been there to see her transform, "if it makes you feel better, we had quite similar suspicions."

"Of course", Mercury was the one to answer now, "you are both quite smart after all. Thanks for helping out here."

"I know we haven't been on the best terms", Sailor Moon took over again, making both Neptune and Haruka look at her, "but… when we are not like this, we are friends, are we not? Can't we work together?"

"Afraid not", Neptune replied, aware of the fact that the Alpha of Haruka's pack currently was the only one able to talk properly while in beast form and that the blonde would only let out snarls and growls, should she try, thus finding herself as spokesperson for both of them for the time being, "the way we handle things and the way you do, it differs too much to let us work together successfully."

"We don't even know what you are after", Mars pointed out, "so how can you know we are not agreeing with how you handle things? Just tell us what you are after, how you plan to do it, and then we will see how to handle things."

"It would never work out", Neptune replied, still the only one capable of speech since Haruka hadn't bothered to change back yet; and then, without giving the others a chance to reply, she turned and walked off, the werewolf right behind her, neither of them looking back when Sailor Moon called after them.

"Wait!" she still tried, not willing to give up so fast, "please! You don't have to do this alone!"

At hearing this, Neptune stopped, then turned to look at them once more; a slight smile curled her lips as she placed one hand on Haruka's arm, just replying with four words before they finally walked off for good, none of the other Senshi calling after them this time. "Don't worry. I'm not."


	17. Chapter 17

_They had failed, and the world was dying. _

_All Michiru could do was stand there, horrified tears on her cheeks as she watched the Silence destroy the world, everything and everyone she ever had held dear; buildings collapsed and people died screaming, and all because Haruka and she had failed their mission, hadn't been able to…_

"…wake up, please!" Haruka's voice reached her ears, with a hint of panic in it, and her eyes flew open to meet the blonde's concerned gaze; she took in a deep breath, briefly closing her eyes again as she realized that it merely had been a nightmare, a tremble running through her, her heart racing in her chest, not even slowing down when Haruka pulled her into a tender embrace.

"Sorry", the smaller woman mumbled after taking in a few more controlled, slow breaths, "it seems I can't have a nightmare without waking you up…"

"Don't worry about that", the blonde replied at once, not really surprising her – so far, she had been remarkably long-suffering and patient when it came to be torn out of her sleep by her partner's bad dreams, "you know I don't need much sleep. The usual?"

"Yes", Michiru replied with a sigh, feeling bad despite how easily Haruka had forgiven her, "but… It was much more intense this time. Much more… real. I don't know how else to describe it, and I don't know why I jump to this conclusion, but… I think we will find a talisman soon. At last."

"At last", Haruka agreed, moving one hand to caress her hair tenderly, "and for that, we need to be well-rested. So you better try to get some more sleep now…"

"Yes", Michiru agreed, snuggling closer to her and resting her head on the werewolf's shoulder, "things might get difficult tomorrow."

Nodding, Haruka held her close, caressing her hair until she had fallen asleep; and while Michiru slept on undisturbed by nightmares, the werewolf laid awake for quite some time, asking herself who the target might be, who might carry a talisman within them, and if they would be there in time to keep Eudial from taking it.

* * *

><p>In the next morning, they both awoke with the feeling of unease again, and even though they were quite sure that the attack wasn't happening anytime soon, it was much stronger than it had ever been before, making them both jumpy and feel as if they were close to something major happening.<p>

"I think you're right", Haruka murmured after nearly dropping her empty coffee cup three times in a row, only her fast reflexes keeping it from shattering on the floor, "if we don't find a talisman today, something else big is happening. This is worse than when Kaorinite died."

"Indeed", Michiru agreed at once, glaring at the coffee machine, as if it had been the machine's fault that her hands had trembled so badly that she had poured more coffee on the counter around it instead of into the filter, "perhaps we'll get a talisman and manage to get rid of Eudial. That would be a nice combination."

"Hell yeah", the blonde gave back, smirking slightly at the thought, "she's been getting really annoying lately. Not to mention quite cocky, if we can't get rid of her completely, we at least should knock her down a peg or two."

"Agreed", the Senshi nodded, pouring coffee for Haruka and herself, glad that by now, her hands had steadied enough to let her do so without any accidents, "but I suppose taking one of the talismans from her will accomplish that quite well."

"I guess so", Haruka agreed, "we'll have to make sure to take it from her then, if one will really appear today."

Nodding, Michiru moved to the fridge to find them something to eat for breakfast; and while they ate and had their coffee, the feeling of unease only kept growing, making it hard for both of them to remain seated, the blonde fighting the urge to fidget on her seat as she felt the wolf stir within her, eager to be let out, to change her into full wolf, even though she was sure that this wouldn't take the unease away.

"Christ", the Senshi murmured just as Haruka finished her coffee, having done so in record time, "I feel like jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Good thing the call isn't always like that, or I'd never get anything done. And destroy a million things by dropping them."

"I want to go full wolf", Haruka almost blurted in reply, nervously playing with her now empty cup, "I know it won't help, but the urge… It's bigger than it ever has been before, even during the full moon."

"Well, if we are right, you'll be able to go wolf soon", Michiru told her, smiling slightly, "depending on what Eudial tries to hit us with. Somehow, I doubt it'll be a cute and cuddly daimon."

"That would be new", Haruka replied with a chuckle, making her partner's smile widen, "actually, that it might stun us so much that she's free to do whatever she wants. Better don't suggest that to her."

Just as Michiru wanted to reply, the blonde's phone started blaring in her pocket; clearly surprised, she needed a moment to fumble it out, frowning as she looked at the display, a hint of unease in her voice when she spoke up and told her it was her father's right hand, the beta wolf of the pack, calling.

"Takashi", she greeted him, not bothering to hide her surprise – usually, her parents called her directly whenever they needed something from the city, the beta never having called her before, "what's up?"

"Haruka", Takashi replied, his voice so carefully controlled that immediately, she was alarmed, sensing at once that he was as far from calm as he could be, "your father… apologizes for letting me make that call, but you are needed here. As quickly as possible."

Despite her alarm, her mind raced as she replayed what he just had said, gripping the phone harder when she realized what had seemed off to her – he sounded as if he was calling for official pack business, but still had referred to Tatsuo as her father, something he never would have done, had it been for the pack, etiquette dictating that in this case, Tatsuo had to be referred to as Alpha, no matter whom his beta was talking to.

"What's wrong", she demanded to know, a sharp intake of breath coming from him in response, telling her that she had guessed right, Takashi only confirming this further when he suddenly and frantically started talking, sounding so freaked out now that it made her heart race in her chest. "Don't come here! She's here and she wants the two of you, don't come here, stay away Haruka, you know you…"

A low yelp came from him, then he was gone; fighting the urge to crush the phone, Haruka sharply said his name, her eyes widening moments later when an all too familiar voice reached her ear in response.

"Sorry", Eudial said, chuckling at the growl she received from the blonde in reply, the sound prompting Michiru to sit up and give her a worried look, "beta boy had to lie down for a little while. As you probably figured out by now, I'm right here with your little pack, and if you don't get your hairy butt over here, along with your little friend Sailor Neptune, I'll start shooting them one by one. With silver bullets. You have one hour."

And right after the last word, without giving Haruka a chance to reply, Eudial ended the call; swallowing heavily, the blonde lowered the phone, her hand trembling visibly as she did so, her voice even hoarser than usual when she looked at Michiru, the smaller woman's eyes widening at what her partner told her after taking in a deep breath to compose herself. "That was Eudial. She's at the pack settlement, and she's got my family."


	18. Chapter 18

When they arrived at the pack settlement forty-five minutes later, Haruka was tempted to shift into wolf form right away, but fought the urge down, only letting the wolf come forward far enough to enhance her strength and bring on the mild changes Neptune had seen first from her; next to her, the Sailor Senshi glanced around cautiously, immediately noticing how quiet the settlement was, unlike to how it usually presented itself, with people here and there, talking and doing their jobs.

"Where is she keeping them", she whispered to the blonde, the taller woman sniffing audibly in response, then gesturing up ahead, at the tallest building the pack had, the assembly hall they used for their more or less regular meetings.

"In there", she rumbled, as if to make sure Neptune was getting her right, "I can smell them. And… Whatever she uses to keep them under control, it works. They're afraid."

"Another silver daimon, maybe", Neptune replied with a grimace, "let me go in first, just in case, if she's got it standing right behind the door or something…"

Even though she didn't like the thought of Neptune going in first, Haruka had to admit that she was making a good point, and thus just nodded; the smaller woman gave her a brief look, a silent reassurance that it would be okay, then pushed the large double door open.

To her relief, no daimon had been placed behind the door, silver or otherwise; clearly though, some sort of battle had gone on in the assembly hall, all the seats and benches broken and tossed all across the room, a large silver cage in the middle of it now, and all the pack members locked up in it, Eudial standing next to it, one gun resting at her feet while she held the one she used to remove pure heart crystals in the other.

"There you are", she greeted the two with a smile, Tatsuo pushing to the front of the locked up werewolves behind her and giving his daughter a desperate look as he spotted her, "and overly punctual, too. But honestly, this is not surprising, I knew you'd come running the second I threaten your family."

"Let them go", Haruka snarled in reply, now glad that she hadn't shifted farther and thus was capable of speak, "they have nothing to do with this."

"I know", Eudial replied, unimpressed by her obvious anger, "which is why I am letting them go after I got what I want from the two of you."

"You know taking us out won't guarantee success", Neptune tried another angle, prompting the redhead to raise an eyebrow, "there's still the other Senshi, and they'll stop you, even if we won't be around anymore."

"…you don't know", Eudial replied, momentarily looking surprised, then amused, even giggling slightly moments later, shaking her head to herself, her voice full of mirth as she went on. "You really have no idea. You think I just wanted the two of you here without backup to take you down?"

"What are you talking about", Haruka demanded to know, Neptune frowning next to her as she tried to figure just that out, as well; in response, Eudial let out another laugh, then raised her gun slightly, a mean twinkle in her eyes as she replied.

"Talking about this is so dull", she told them, "so why don't I just show you?"

And with the last word, the gun came up fully, and she took just the blink of an eye to aim, pulling the trigger; Haruka just had time to let her eyes widen, then Neptune barrelled into her, a pained cry coming from her as she took the hit for her, her pure heart crystal ripped from her chest, shining so bright that she couldn't even look at it.

"No! Michiru!" she cried out, unaware that she had used her partner's civilian name; she heard her mother and father cry out as well, along with several others of the pack, those who knew her partner well, but they were unimportant now, far, far away, the only thing she could focus on being her partner as she slumped forward, ending right in her arms, her body horribly lifeless and limp.

"Michiru", she brought out again, while Eudial laughed gleefully, ignoring the werewolves cursing and threatening her, "hold on, you hear, you'll be alright, we'll just have to get the heart crystal back inside you, then…"

She trailed off as the crystal started shining even brighter, a strange sound reaching her ears, so high-pitched that it nearly hurt; without noticing what she was doing, she tightened her grip on the motionless Senshi as the crystal changed, her breath getting caught in her throat and her eyes widening yet again when she realized what was happening.

"No", she brought out, the tremble in her voice making Eudial laugh again, "no, this… this can't… No!"

"What's going on?" Tatsuo yelled, his fear clearly showing through his voice as the crystal changed, somehow expanding and forming an oval shape with what looked like a handle protruding from it; feeling strangely numb now, Haruka watched how the crystal kept transforming, until it had turned into a mirror, the planetary symbol of Neptune etched onto its back, the reflective front gleaming brightly as it hung in the air.

"Yes", Eudial smirked in triumph, "your beloved Neptune had one of the talismans within her the entire time, and you never knew. Honestly, I thought you did and just kept ruining my tries to find one to mess with me."

If she noticed that Haruka didn't even hear her, she didn't let it stop her from her gloating; she let out another laugh while the blonde just kept staring at the talisman, finding it impossible to believe that this was really happening.

_If anything happens to me, you have to go on, _she heard Michiru's voice with eerie clarity, reminding her of that dreadful promise she had made her give, _find the talismans, make sure they don't get them…_

Swallowing heavily, she told herself that she had time for grief later, that now, she had to made sure that Eudial wouldn't get the talisman; and thus, she reached out while the redhead still was busy gloating, clearly having not expected her to snap out of her shock and pain so quickly, her eyes going wide moments later when the blonde grasped the mirror, a chocked noise of rage coming from her.

"No!" she then snapped, raising the gun yet again, "I will not let you take this, not now that I am…"

She kept talking, but Haruka found herself unable to focus on what she was saying as suddenly, her chest felt as if someone had tightened glowing bands of iron around it, making it hard for her to breathe; dimly, she heard her father call out her name in fear as she slumped down on her knees, still holding the mirror with one hand while the other clutched at her chest, a low mixture of groan and growl coming from her as pain flashed up there.

"Haruka!" Tatsuo yelled again as he had to watch in helpless terror how light seemed to shoot out of her chest, despite how irrational this was; she let out another groan in reply, the light pulsating around her, Eudial's eyes widening yet again as the blonde's heart crystal was torn from her chest, a short bark of delighted laughter coming from the redhead when she realized what was happening.

"Wolf boy", she then said, glancing at Tatsuo, who stared in terror as his daughter slumped down to the ground, the crystal now hovering above her, then changing just like Michiru's had, "seems like Neptune wasn't the only one in that pair with a talisman."

* * *

><p>"Such luck", Eudial had gone back to gloating, knowing that the wolves couldn't get out of the cage she had put them in and that thus, with Sailor Neptune and her pesky werewolf friend down, she was in no danger at all and could take her time, "getting two talismans with one strike! The doctor will be so pleased!"<p>

She smiled as she looked at the mirror and the sword, both items now hovering in the air again, Haruka having let go of the mirror when she had broken down; she took one step closer to them, and that was when the door flew open yet again, revealing five silhouettes in the doorway, a cry of disbelief coming from her as she recognized them.

"Stay away from them", Sailor Moon strictly told her as she stepped into the assembly hall, the other four Senshi right behind her, and behind them, two more figures, the small child Chibi Moon and another, tall one Eudial had never seen before, casually leaning on what appeared to be some kind of staff.

"We will not let you take this", Sailor Moon went on, moving past the lifeless figures of Haruka and Neptune and thus putting herself between them, the talismans and Eudial, "and in the name of the Moon, we will punish you for doing this to them."

"Get out of my way", Eudial snarled in response, waving her gun threateningly, not impressing any of the girls much though since all five of them already had gone through having their pure hearts removed and knew exactly how it felt, "I will not let you ruin this for me! I finally got what I wanted!"

"You never had a chance", the sixth tall figure, the one which had remained in the shadows so far, now spoke up for the first time, stepping into full view; it wasn't really surprising that she was a Senshi, as well, and even though she looked to be just slightly older than Haruka and Neptune, there was something about her which made her seem much, much more mature and wise than the two were, a certain calm wisdom in her eyes which simply couldn't belong to someone not even in their twenties yet.

"And not only because we will not let you take the talismans of those two", she added as Eudial glared at her and fumed quietly, for once apparently not having anything to say, "but because the third talisman would never have gotten within your reach."

With the last few words, she lowered the staff slightly, so they could all get a good look at the orb sitting on top of it; Eudial let out a gasp while even the other Senshi looked surprised, showing that they'd had no idea about this, the pack still reduced to watching helplessly from the cage, Tatsuo looking as if he wanted to throw himself against the bars as his gaze kept moving from the mysterious Senshi to the lifeless form of his daughter and her partner.

"Do something", he then finally couldn't hold back anymore, his now pleading eyes focusing on the tall Senshi, "please, help them!"

In response, she smiled at him, then lowered the staff even further, until the tip was pointed at the talismans floating above the two women's bodies; the orb began to pulsate with a warm, red light, but before this could show any effect, Eudial let out an angry cry, yelling for her daimon to appear, interrupting whatever the Senshi had been doing as said daimon crashed through the wall behind her a second later, a frighteningly big monstrosity made of spiky stone, glowing red eyes focusing on the group of Senshi and making them move back in fear, all of them making sure though that they remained between the redhead and the talismans.

"Spike!" the daimon roared, bringing up two fists the size of wrecking balls and slamming them down onto the floor; thanks to their fast reflexes, none of the Senshi were standing there anymore when the impact happened, but from the way the ground shook at the force of the creature's hit, they had no time for relief, realizing how absurdly strong the thing was.

"Dammit", Mars grumbled as she looked for a weak point, but found herself unable to pinpoint one – thanks to the monster being made of stone, neither her fire attack, nor Jupiter's lightning would do any good, the bulk and obvious strength of the thing made her doubt that Venus's chain would do any good, and Sailor Moon would need them to weaken it before she could try to finish it off with her attack. Perhaps Mercury might be able to do some damage with her ice attack, the Senshi pondered, all of those thoughts flitting through her mind in seconds, but while they were busy with that, Eudial might make a grab for the talismans, and even though she knew that their mysterious new companion Sailor Pluto wouldn't let her get the orb, as well, letting her have two of the powerful objects was not an option.

"Mercury", she hissed, making sure to keep her voice low so the redhead wouldn't hear her, "buy us some time!"

Nodding, Sailor Mercury briefly narrowed her eyes as she focused, mumbling the attack under her breath so Eudial had no idea what was happening until it was too late; still, the redhead just laughed as the bubbles filled the area and made it considerably harder for anyone to see anything, her voice full of contempt as she told them that this might buy them time, but wouldn't help them in the long run, the Senshi moving through the thick mist quietly as she kept taunting them, each of them trying to figure out to get rid of this daimon and how to keep her from taking what she had come here for.


	19. Chapter 19

_She floated in the darkness, and her world was made of pain. Pain of her body, from what had happened when she had grasped Michiru's talisman, and that was bad, but what was even worse was the pain in her heart, after she had seen her lover go down, her talisman removed from her chest, taking the pure heart crystal with it, removing something so vital from her body._

_Now, as she hung there in the inky blackness, she found it hard to believe that fate could be so cruel, allowing it that she crossed paths with this woman so perfect for her, this woman who she already knew was the one for her, and then rip them apart so brutally; she wanted to rage against this injustice, but couldn't, finding herself unable to do anything but hang there in the dark, brief fear flashing up as she asked herself if this was her final fate, to spend eternity in this darkness, alone and without her love, her life._

_She wondered if it was the same for Michiru, if she was captured in this darkness as well, looking for her, maybe even calling out for her; and then, just as that thought started to fill her with new fear, golden light appeared in the distance, and a voice which somehow, irrationally, at the same time was her own and wasn't, called out to her, told her to wake up, that she was needed and that her destiny was not yet fulfilled…_

…_and in the darkness, she awoke._

* * *

><p>Perhaps, Sailor Moon was forced to admit, Eudial had outwitted them this time, sending this daimon after them which seemed to unimpressed by their attacks; so far, Mars and Jupiter had tried their luck, to no avail, and while she remained close to the talismans with Venus, and could only hear the sounds of battle, she feared the second the creature would come stomping out of the mist around them and focus on them.<p>

_If Mars and Jupiter can't weaken it, I can't take it down, _she thought to herself somewhat frantically, peering into the mist in an attempt to see anything; she heard Mars cry out in what sounded frighteningly like pain, her yelp followed by a low thud, and her heart skipped a beat as immediately, her mind conjured up terrifying visions of the monster dreadfully hurting her friend.

Biting back the urge to cry out her name, she shifted uneasily, gulping as the ground started to tremble, signalling the monster's approach; and mere seconds later, it was there, huge and dreadful as it loomed over her, spurred on by Eudial yelling at it to get the damn talismans at last.

"_Venus Love-Me Chain!" _Sailor Moon heard Venus cry out behind her, the chain shooting past her ear moments later and striking the daimon in the chest; and to her terror, but not really surprised, it batted the attack aside carelessly, fresh terror gripping her heart as she heard an all too familiar voice cry out the blink of an eye later.

"_Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" _Predictably, the attack had even less of an effect on the monster than Venus' had had, but Sailor Moon knew how short the range of it was, knew how close Chibi Moon had to get to make it hit the target – and somehow, the daimon knew too, turning to the right and raising a massive fist as the hearts kept flying at it, shattering against the bulky stone body uselessly.

"No!" Sailor Moon cried, launching herself forward in the same instant without thinking; her body hitting the much smaller girl's ended the attack, but it wasn't enough to stop the daimon, the creature letting out a roar as the massive fist shot down, ready to crush them both, the older Senshi knowing that, as tough as being what she was had made her, not even that would withstand the sheer strength and mass of the thing.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she held her breath as she waited for the impact; there was an audible crunching noise, and she nearly screamed – before she realized that she was still alive and that there was no pain, a not all too smart "eh?" coming from her as she slowly opened her eyes again, blinking stupidly at the clenched fist which laid on the ground in front of her, smoke rising from the surprisingly smooth, flat surface, where it had been cut off.

_Cut off?! _she realized belatedly, staring at the hand dumbly as she tried to figure out if any of the Senshi had an attack which could accomplish this; and then, she heard the growl, oddly familiar by now, her eyes widening again as she looked over her shoulder and saw Haruka standing there in what she by now knew was called the beast form, a sword gripped tightly in one hand – _the _sword, she then realized – the blade made of such pure light that it was almost impossible to look at it.

"No!" she heard Eudial scream somewhere, but the werewolf didn't let this stop her; another snarl, a mere flicking of her wrist, and the blade moved so fast that it was almost dancing, darting this way and that – and not even ten seconds later, the daimon crumbled, cut apart into so many pieces that it was impossible to tell what it had been before it had been sliced apart.

"Spike!" Eudial wailed, "the talismans! Dammit! Damn you all to Hell!"

The bubbles vanished and let Sailor Moon see more of their surroundings, just in time to let her spot how Eudial brought her gun up, the one she used to remove the pure heart crystals; with an unarticulated yell of rage, she fired, aiming at Haruka yet again, even though by now, she had to know that this wouldn't keep her down for long.

The stream of black energy shot towards her, ready to remove her pure heart yet again, giving Sailor Moon cause to wonder if somehow, it had been returned while they hadn't been paying attention; and then, a second, much smaller and slimmer figure appeared in front of the bulky werewolf, a brief flash of light coming up as Neptune raised the mirror – before the dark energy of Eudial's weapon hit the reflective surface, sending it right back at her, a cry of both surprise and pain coming from her as she got hit.

_I wonder if she'll have a pure heart, too, _Sailor Moon crazily thought to herself, while the darkness surrounded the redhead and made her scream in pure pain now; not long after she had taken the hit, she was covered in a cocoon of black energy, and when it slowly died down and vanished into nothingness, Eudial was gone with it, only her weapons remaining where she had been standing.

* * *

><p>"Mom", Haruka groaned in embarrassment, fidgeting uncomfortably as Ramika fussed over her, "please. I told you, I'm alright. Stop it."<p>

She glared as Usagi and the others struggled valiantly, but quite unsuccessfully, to hold back giggles, while Ramika gave her a strict look, sounding stern as well as she replied, in a no-nonsense voice which left no room for argument. "A sword came out of your chest, and I'm pretty sure you stopped breathing for a while after it had. So don't tell me you're perfectly fine."

"But I am", Haruka nearly whined, her tone of voice destroying the last few shreds of self-control the other Senshi had; they all burst out laughing, and even Michiru giggled a bit, even though she was being fussed over, as well, Tatsuo being the one who was making sure that she was okay.

"You know", the blonde sternly said while her mother finally seemed satisfied and sat back, still looking at her in concern though, "just because we're kinda-sorta friends now and you saved our butts, doesn't mean you can laugh at me."

"Better get used to it", the newest addition to the team, having introduced herself as both Sailor Pluto and Setsuna Meioh, commented, smiling slightly, "it will happen quite a few more times in the future. I'm the Guardian of Time, I know these things."

"And you couldn't have used that knowledge to warn us?" Michiru wanted to know, making her look at her, "instead of letting us walk straight into Eudial's trap? She could have killed us, or her daimon could have killed Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon, if Haruka hadn't come back around just in time."

"I couldn't", Setsuna gave back at once, not really surprising her with that answer, "things had to play out that way to work out. Honestly, it was difficult enough to keep track, after how things had been changed by the wolf, I couldn't risk even further changes by telling you what was about to happen."

"Um, sorry?" Tatsuo threw in somewhat meekly, scratching the back of his head sheepishly and making his hair even scruffier than it usually was, "we wouldn't have done that if we had known about the… Senshi thing, but we had no idea…"

"Of course not", Setsuna replied at once, "what you did back then was right, make no mistake about that. The first… break, for lack of a better word, of destiny happened when her parents crashed that car and died. What you did mended that break, not completely, but enough to let her fulfil her destiny."

"My _biological_ parents", Haruka spoke up again, a hint of coldness in her voice now, "these people are nothing else to me. My parents are the two sitting right here."

"Of course", Setsuna replied at once, while Michiru reached over to place a calming hand on the blonde's arm, "I meant no offense."

"So", Tatsuo said, gaining their attention once more and keeping Haruka from making another remark, "she was supposed to be Sailor Uranus then, but we ruined that. But because she's a werewolf, she can still do what she was… born to do?"

"Yes", Setsuna confirmed, "some… alterations, for lack of a better word, had to be made, but this is what it amounts to. To be honest, I was quite worried about her talisman, I had no knowledge if it'd be the sword I remembered or something completely different. I almost expected an oversized flea collar."

"Haha", Haruka replied dryly, while the younger Senshi once more fought to hold back laughter, "very funny. Guess we're lucky it's that sword and not something else."

"Yes", Setsuna agreed, "even though a few alterations have been made to it when you became a werewolf. You don't remember yet, but in its original form, in your previous life, the handle was much smaller. I suppose it adjusted to what you call your beast form."

"Smart", the blonde gave back, the hint of snark in her voice prompting Michiru to give her another amused glance while Setsuna merely rolled her eyes, even though she sounded not quite as serious as she had moments ago when she replied verbally, as well. "And you are still big on the sarcasm. I guess some things never change."

Since so far, none of the memories the elder woman had mentioned had returned, Haruka had no idea what to reply to this; and from the look on Setsuna's face, it was obvious that this had been just what she had wanted to accomplish when she had made that comment, a small giggle coming from Michiru as she shook her head at their antics, thoughts of a past life whirling through her mind as she realized how familiar, how _right _all of this felt, the Senshi suddenly sure that this was just how it was supposed to be and that nothing could stop them as long as they all stuck together.


	20. Chapter 20

"You've been doing this longer than me, do you have any memories of this past life Setsuna mentioned?", Haruka wanted to know hours later, in her old bedroom in her parents' house, after the younger Senshi and Setsuna had left; to the amusement of both Haruka and Michiru, Rei had dragged Yuuichirou along for a celebration of their victory, as she had put it, but the fact that her scent was all over the young man had been more than enough to tell the blonde that a simple party wasn't all Rei had had in mind.

"Not really", Michiru gave back as she changed into the oversized t-shirt Tatsuo had borrowed her for the night, smiling as she noticed the way Haruka was watching her, the way her breath quickened slightly as she removed her skirt and gave her a good view of her legs, "just… flickers, I suppose. Images and moments, nothing all too defined. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering", the blonde gave back, shifting on the bed to make room for her lover, "cause I got nothing at all. Do you think we were the same back then? Personality-wise I mean? And do you think we were together?"

"Well, according to Setsuna, you were pretty sarcastic back then, too", Michiru reminded her with another small giggle, prompting her to roll her eyes, "but apart from them, I can't really say."

"Hm", the werewolf let out in reply, prompting Michiru to look at her curiously, the same emotion in her voice when she asked her if there was a special reason why she had brought this up.

"I know I said I don't really believe in fate", Haruka gave back after thinking about it for a moment, wanting to make sure that she'd word it the right way, "but after all Setsuna said today, and how it all just worked out in the end, I had to think this through once more. And I wonder if maybe, the two of us, what we feel… if that was destiny, too."

"Does it matter?" Michiru wanted to know in response, getting into bed as well at last and smiling when immediately, she was pulled into an embrace, "because to me, it doesn't. I don't care if we were together in our past lives, as well, because in the here and now, I… you mean so much to me, I…"

She fell silent and swallowed heavily, mystified by how hard it was for her to say those three words, small and short as all three of them were, but so big and meaningful when said together; then, she took in a deep breath, telling herself that after all they had faced, saying such a simple truth should be the easiest thing in the world for her, her eyes meeting Haruka's as she went on.

"I love you", she confessed, with an audible tremble in her voice, but not letting it stop her, "right here, right now, now and always."

"I love you, too", Haruka replied at once, saying out loud what she had been thinking for so long now, and as she did, the scent of roses hit her nostrils again, and a memory flashed through her mind, of someone who wasn't her and still somehow had been, different in some aspects, but so much the same in others, of how this past version of her had gulped and stuttered when she had said those words for the first time, to the past self of the woman she was holding in her arms this very moment; this time it was easier for her, but still she knew that this didn't make her words any less true, that she loved the Senshi with all her heart, that she'd rather die than see her get hurt.

"So much", she added hoarsely, suddenly so overwhelmed by her emotions that she found it hard to breathe; clearly feeling something similar, all Michiru did for a few seconds was look at her – before she pulled her closer and kissed her deeply, all her feelings showing through the kiss, telling her so much more than those three simple words ever could have.

They both knew, somehow, that peace wasn't even close yet, that sooner or later, they would have to fight again; for now though, they'd have at least a bit of peace, time to focus on each other before they'd have to fight again, and they both were determined to make the best of the time they had, both the Senshi and the werewolf knowing that whatever their enemies threw at them next, they'd prevail for as long as they had each other.

End.

Author's Note: And here we go with the sequel. The third one, so far titled _Fury of the Wild_, is still in the works, and I will start posting it once it has been completed :-) I hope you had fun reading this!


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